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Old 02-26-2014, 06:04 AM   #21
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It's a virtual currency that has gained popularity over the past few years. MtGox was the largest online exchange for bitcoins. These exchanges allow you to convert bitcoins to and from real money.

MtGox was originally a card trading site associated with the Magic card game. MtGox stands for Magic the Gathering online exchange.
Thanks for the explanation.

My reaction to this is akin to a conservative investor, who upon hearing of some new hot stock or invesment opportunity: I now know everything I need to know about it.
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Old 02-26-2014, 08:23 AM   #22
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A broad view of the aftermath:
The Mt. Gox fiasco won't kill Bitcoin | The Verge

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Now that what’s left of Mt. Gox’s credibility has been shredded, the company is unlikely to rebound even with a bailout from investors or other members of the Bitcoin community. That leaves the question of what comes next. A host of funded exchanges are ready to take its place. But for an exchange to regain users’ trust after the fall of Gox, it will need new transparency standards and safeguards, some of which have already been proposed.

Others see currency exchanges as a gap technology that the Bitcoin economy is poised to move beyond. Once people are being paid in Bitcoin and spending money in Bitcoin, there won’t be as much need to buy it for cash, which is the primary function of an exchange. "These large exchanges that are international and global are more important in the early stages of Bitcoin when we need price discovery," says Jon Matonis, director of the Bitcoin Foundation. "You don’t need them in the long run because in a true Bitcoin economy you’ll have a closed-loop system."
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Old 02-26-2014, 10:06 AM   #23
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As with any financial transaction, the current issues should be analyzed non-emotionally to determine whether this equivalent to a dollar crisis moment or if this is a moment equivalent to the Confederate currency moment in regards to bitcoin's future. This is in the end a medium of exchange and perhaps might be an opportunity. Certainly I wished I had listened to some of my early adopter friends when bitcoin was at 1$, of course if their money got stolen, that is a serious problem that needs addressing, but theft of money and counterfitting has occured since the first coins were made.

The issues around bitcoin reminds me of discussions in the early days of the internet skeptics when people stated why would I want to look at something online when I can have the catalogue in my house?
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Old 02-26-2014, 11:46 AM   #24
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As with any financial transaction, the current issues should be analyzed non-emotionally to determine whether this equivalent to a dollar crisis moment or if this is a moment equivalent to the Confederate currency moment in regards to bitcoin's future. This is in the end a medium of exchange and perhaps might be an opportunity. Certainly I wished I had listened to some of my early adopter friends when bitcoin was at 1$, of course if their money got stolen, that is a serious problem that needs addressing, but theft of money and counterfitting has occured since the first coins were made.

The issues around bitcoin reminds me of discussions in the early days of the internet skeptics when people stated why would I want to look at something online when I can have the catalogue in my house?
You make a good point. As an old guy now, I don't want to be like those old computer guys were when I was young, dismissing microprocessors as nothing but a toy. On the other hand, most of those early microprocessor companies, hardware or software, went bankrupt.

So there may be two questions.
1) Is a pure digital currency Confederate money or something truly new and important.
2) Why Bitcoin?

Just because it has become the predominant digital currency now, it is not the only one nor the first. If it is really the coming thing, what is to stop some other entity say Google or Microsoft or even the U.S. Government from setting up one. A digital currency with more transparency and status.

I have a feeling this digital currency thing has a long way to go before we see how it finally plays out. And BTW, I wish I had bought at $1 too! In 10 years will I wish I had bought in 2014? I guess I will have to wait to find out.
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Old 02-26-2014, 01:29 PM   #25
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"You don’t need them in the long run because in a true Bitcoin economy you’ll have a closed-loop system."
Heh. Wishful thinking combined with economics FAIL, in one tidy sentence. How efficient of him.
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Old 02-26-2014, 02:17 PM   #26
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The question I have is "what useful purpose does bitcoin serve?"

Currently it appears to be mostly a speculation vehicle and a way to hide unsavory financial transactions from prying eyes.

It serves no purpose as a currency currently because its value fluctuates so wildly.

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Originally Posted by Running_Man View Post
As with any financial transaction, the current issues should be analyzed non-emotionally to determine whether this equivalent to a dollar crisis moment or if this is a moment equivalent to the Confederate currency moment in regards to bitcoin's future. This is in the end a medium of exchange and perhaps might be an opportunity. Certainly I wished I had listened to some of my early adopter friends when bitcoin was at 1$, of course if their money got stolen, that is a serious problem that needs addressing, but theft of money and counterfitting has occured since the first coins were made.

The issues around bitcoin reminds me of discussions in the early days of the internet skeptics when people stated why would I want to look at something online when I can have the catalogue in my house?
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Old 02-26-2014, 03:35 PM   #27
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I think it pretty much serves the same purpose as gold bullion. Interestingly I was discussing with an online friend last week if there was away for her to sell her magic the gathering cards. She has another friend who is really interested in BitCoin and has bought some. I bet if we had this conversation several months ago, she might have used Mt Gox and turned her magic cards into bitcoins.
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Old 02-26-2014, 04:01 PM   #28
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I'd like to get my hands on a real bitcoin so I can make a die and start stamping them out. When I get enough, I can trade them for real money. Will I need a broker to make the trades?
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Old 02-26-2014, 05:02 PM   #29
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Seriously, did anyone really think this Bitcoin thing was going to turn out any differently than what we are seeing? This thing has Ponzi written all over it...
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Old 02-26-2014, 05:14 PM   #30
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I'd like to get my hands on a real bitcoin so I can make a die and start stamping them out. When I get enough, I can trade them for real money. Will I need a broker to make the trades?
Many people make novelty bitcoins that are poker chip like things. If you stamp the private key of your digital wallet on one of those, it would be very much like writing your brokerage acct id, password and such on a piece of paper and carrying it around.

Too me the mechanics of bitcoins are superficially like owning stocks at a brokerage. You don't have physical stock certificates. You have an online account that shows you pretty graphs and numbers. And you trust that your brokerage is reputable and that you can actually exchange the online numbers for a hamburger when you get hungry.
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Old 02-26-2014, 05:41 PM   #31
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Seriously, did anyone really think this Bitcoin thing was going to turn out any differently than what we are seeing? This thing has Ponzi written all over it...
Many did and I bet some still do. I think the encryption and mining process are interesting. But I have no idea if it will survive long term. That has been the big question since day one.

Bitcoins are not readily tracked or managed by any governments and this made them ideal for transactions in the nether regions of the web. The Silk Road operated on the Deep Web as an "eBay for drugs" from 2011 to 2013. All the user had to do is trust a criminal organization with their bitcoins. I suppose it would be less dangerous than driving to a bad part of town with cash.

The FBI seized the original Silk Roads bitcoin assets and shut it down. At the time of shutdown the bitcoins were worth around 28 million dollars. I believe this made the US one of the largest holders of bitcoins at least at that time.

A new version started up, but just a couple weeks ago the new Silk Road claimed that the escrow accounts had been compromised and the 2.7 million worth of bitcoins in them were stolen. Many, including myself, believe that it's likely the people running the second version of the Silk Road who actually stole the assets. It is not like the users of the site are going to call the police to report it.
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