Bitcoins

[Herr Tubthumper]

So have you lost a packet you could have safely stashed under your bed ?

It was an experiment so thankfully it wasn't a "packet." But yes it would have been safer under the bed. But I'm genuinely intrigued by Bitcoin, and my brief dabble was interesting, so I have filed the cost of my loss under "entertainment."

 

[Beach Hut]

I'm happy to share my experience so I won't be telling you to mind your own I had my Bitcoins in MtGox so I'm guessing they're all lost. This is what I'm assuming anyway. And yes in principle I'll buy some more but I'll need to do some more home work first. I knew there was a risk I could lose my money but I thought this would be more likely due to the currency collapsing than someone virtually raiding the bank.

As for spending them this was to be my next step. As I understand it I would use an App on my phone to transfer the money to an App the vendor eg Blind Tiger would have and it would be similar to making a bank transfer, or any other purchase, on your phone; I don't believe any prior account with the vendor or engagement is required. I stand there at the bar; send cash; it registers on pub App; I drink my beer. This is the theory as I understand it.

I'm still keen so once the dust has settled I will have another go.

Why risk a lot of money in a very dodgy untried environment ?

Surely you might get better odds at a roulette table ?

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Why risk a lot of money in a very dodgy untried environment ?

Surely you might get better odds at a roulette table ?

Interest and intrigue was my primary motivation. See my post above. I wasn't out to make a profit; I just wanted to see how it worked and support it in my own small way.

 

[AZ Gull]

I'm happy to share my experience so I won't be telling you to mind your own I had my Bitcoins in MtGox so I'm guessing they're all lost. This is what I'm assuming anyway. And yes in principle I'll buy some more but I'll need to do some more home work first. I knew there was a risk I could lose my money but I thought this would be more likely due to the currency collapsing than someone virtually raiding the bank.

As for spending them this was to be my next step. As I understand it I would use an App on my phone to transfer the money to an App the vendor eg Blind Tiger would have and it would be similar to making a bank transfer, or any other purchase, on your phone; I don't believe any prior account with the vendor or engagement is required. I stand there at the bar; send cash; it registers on pub App; I drink my beer. This is the theory as I understand it.

I'm still keen so once the dust has settled I will have another go.

Thanks - if you do buy more, I wish you better luck (I am sure you will approach a second purchase with improved security in mind).

By the way, are you able to report this theft to the authorities? I would like to be a fly-on-the-wall when you give a statement to a police officer who has no idea what bitcoins are all about....

 

[AZ Gull]

The head of an "upstart" online currency exchange died last week in mysterious circumstances - Head of Online Currency Exchange Found Dead in Singapore

Where's [MENTION=20045]hybrid_x[/MENTION] when you need him?

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

Where's [MENTION=20045]hybrid_x[/MENTION] when you need him?

Reportedly captured on CCTV dumping what looked like a usb stick in a wheelie bin.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Thanks - if you do buy more, I wish you better luck (I am sure you will approach a second purchase with improved security in mind).

By the way, are you able to report this theft to the authorities? I would like to be a fly-on-the-wall when you give a statement to a police officer who has no idea what bitcoins are all about....

Thanks. I am not really sure if I can report my loss...or who I report it to; my funds were sent to Poland and then moved to the site in Japan. MtGox is under a lot of scrutiny and gets a lot of press so I'll keep an eye on it and see what happens.

But yeah, would be funny to walk into the police station and report the theft "so Herr Tubthumper, can you provide a description of the Bitcoins? We can then alert our officers to look for them."

 

[Springal]

Except that if something does happen to your bitcoins, you have no recourse to anyone; they are gone for good (just like finding that cash has "disappeared" from your physical wallet). With other types of "identity theft", or if a business you bank/trade with suffers a hacking attack, there will probably be some degree of compensation/restitution.

I'm not sure if someone logged into my bank account, and transferred my money away, I'd get it back. Not sure.

Either way, I think I'll stick with my wallet on my PC, and transfer in and out as needed.

I must admit, I am intruiged by how it works in a shop, as my experience of moving bitcoins around and paying for stuff, is it can take 5 mins - 2 hours for a transaction to full complete. Even at 5 minutes, thats not ideal in normal retail.

 

[The Maharajah of Sydney]

Newsweek unmasks the creator of Bitcoin

The creator of Bitcoin is a bit of a myth. It’s long been credited to Tokyo-based Satoshi Nakamoto but many people believe that’s a pseudonym and the real identity of the creator is a mystery.

Newsweek investigations reveal a 64-year-old man named Satoshi Nakamoto living in California and believes the mysterious man is the true creator.

“I am no longer involved in that and I cannot discuss it,” he says, dismissing all further queries with a swat of his left hand. “It’s been turned over to other people. They are in charge of it now. I no longer have any connection.”

It’s interesting reading.


http://mag.newsweek.com/2014/03/14/bitcoin-satoshi-nakamoto.html

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Where's [MENTION=20045]hybrid_x[/MENTION] when you need him?

 

[hybrid_x]

The head of an "upstart" online currency exchange died last week in mysterious circumstances - Head of Online Currency Exchange Found Dead in Singapore

Where's [MENTION=20045]hybrid_x[/MENTION] when you need him?

At your service sir.

All i know about bitcoin is the CIA / Central Banks got involved (and scared) a while back, and i predicted in december it would see a crash before May.

I've not looked too much into this car chase / death / owner type stuff' in the news this week due to having to be away from screens for practical logistics.

Carry on. // sorry for response time ;-)

 

[hybrid_x]

Reportedly captured on CCTV dumping what looked like a usb stick in a wheelie bin.

Grim-sby? That's one giant wheelie bin. On a personal note, better to use online cloud backups over usb sticks that defrag far too easily.

 

[The Maharajah of Sydney]

Bitcoin exchange for high-frequency traders is launched.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/bitcoin-exchange-for-high-frequency-traders-is-launched-2014-03-12


Perseus Telecom, Atlas ATS collaborate on system for institutional investors.



High-speed telecommunications provider Perseus Telecom and digital currency trading platform Atlas ATS formally launched Wednesday a globally integrated bitcoin exchange system in New York, Hong Kong and Singapore to facilitate trading in the digital currency by high-frequency trading firms and other large financial institutions.

The two firms’ collaboration, first reported last month by The Wall Street Journal, marks a milestone in the evolution of bitcoin out of a retail-oriented, loosely regulated low-tech environment to one that is open to the high-volume and strictly regulated activities of Wall Street. It comes after the sudden collapse of Tokyo-based bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox, which said it had lost 850,000 bitcoin—now worth more than $500 million—and a string of scandals, including a world-wide hacking attack that temporarily paralyzed Mt. Gox competitors such as Slovenia-based Bitstamp.

“Now, institutional investors and banks can see that there are known players with the right pedigree” engaged in bitcoin, said Jock Percy, chief executive officer of Perseus, whose high-bandwidth lines are used to connect securities exchanges around the world with institutional investors’ trade execution platforms. He said Perseus’s high-speed trading clients had expressed demand for such services, but needed assurances that such systems are compliant with their industry’s demanding regulatory requirements, and that the systems use fast-response technology that can meet their risk-limit requirements in high volume.

None of that is currently available for bitcoin trading, Percy said. Whereas most bitcoin exchanges reside on cloud-based servers that he says are “inherently glitchy,” Atlas ATS’s platform will be located within a robust, dedicated network, Percy added.

Atlas ATS CEO Shawn Sloves said the exchange integration across multiple locations will add liquidity to the trading pool for bitcoin by creating a single, global order book that gets around what he calls a “regionally focused, very fragmented” bitcoin trading environment that is “not considered Wall Street grade.” The network will incorporate both a private market, where bids and offers among members of a pool are kept outside the public domain, and a public market that broadcasts live, real-time prices, he said.

 

[AZ Gull]

From The Wall Street Journal - Visa, Nasdaq, Others Invest $30 Million in Bitcoin-Related Startup