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It's not a BitCoin problem, this entire episode revolves around one exchange (MtGox) and its security problems. Mt Gox Exchange =/= BTC Currency Nasdaq Exchang

It's not a BitCoin problem, this entire episode revolves around one exchange (MtGox) and its security problems. Mt Gox Exchange =/= BTC Currency Nasdaq Exchange =/= USD Currency

william42 15y ago
Out of curiosity, how big is Mt. Gox compared to the other bitcoin exchanges?
- bskari 15y ago
  http://www.bitcoincharts.com http://www.bitcoincharts.com lists the daily trading volume of various exchanges. I think the numbers for Mt. Gox represent the volume before things went sour, so based on that, Mt. Gox sees almost 30 times the volume of the next largest exchange.
- rmc 15y ago
  MtGox has about 90% of the bitcoin change market.
  - dedward 15y ago
    I'm probably thinking of something different - but wasn't it clear in the bitcoin protocol itself that if a single actor controlled a majority percentage of the bitcoins out there, the model falls apart and is at risk?
    - rmc 15y ago
      Sorry, we have our wires crossed. You can still transfer bitcoins from one person to the other. An exchange is a website that allows you convert bitcoins in USD. MtGox controlled about 90% of the BTC↔USD conversions.
haberman 15y ago
The market intervention that people are demanding is only possible because Mt Gox is a centralized exchange. Had this been a hack of a pure BitCoin client, it would have been even worse, because the theft would have been irreversible. If the community wants rollbacks when transactions aren't "fair," what's the point of BitCoin again?
- danneu 15y ago
  Rolling back centralized trades is entirely different from rolling back a house burglary.
phillijw 15y ago
I think you may be able to argue that it is partially a bitcoin problem because it has been claimed that this attack was based largely on hacked bitcoin accounts (via virus/worm). I think this problem can be solved in the future quite easily though.
chalst 15y ago
Right. It's clear that this is not a problem with Bitcoin itself, but a problem with an institution built on top of it. If Mt Gox fails, other trading platforms could emerge to take its place. Likewise the freedom from government intervention that is the point of Bitcoin does not ensure freedom from government intervention in trading platforms built upon it. Not that I don't expect problems to emerge with Bitcoin itself...

It's not a BitCoin problem, this entire episode revolves around one exchange (MtGox) and its security problems. Mt Gox Exchange =/= BTC Currency Nasdaq Exchange =/= USD Currency

william42 15y ago

Out of curiosity, how big is Mt. Gox compared to the other bitcoin exchanges?

bskari 15y ago
http://www.bitcoincharts.com http://www.bitcoincharts.com lists the daily trading volume of various exchanges. I think the numbers for Mt. Gox represent the volume before things went sour, so based on that, Mt. Gox sees almost 30 times the volume of the next largest exchange.
rmc 15y ago
MtGox has about 90% of the bitcoin change market.
- dedward 15y ago
  I'm probably thinking of something different - but wasn't it clear in the bitcoin protocol itself that if a single actor controlled a majority percentage of the bitcoins out there, the model falls apart and is at risk?
  - rmc 15y ago
    Sorry, we have our wires crossed. You can still transfer bitcoins from one person to the other. An exchange is a website that allows you convert bitcoins in USD. MtGox controlled about 90% of the BTC↔USD conversions.

haberman 15y ago

The market intervention that people are demanding is only possible because Mt Gox is a centralized exchange. Had this been a hack of a pure BitCoin client, it would have been even worse, because the theft would have been irreversible. If the community wants rollbacks when transactions aren't "fair," what's the point of BitCoin again?

danneu 15y ago
Rolling back centralized trades is entirely different from rolling back a house burglary.

phillijw 15y ago

I think you may be able to argue that it is partially a bitcoin problem because it has been claimed that this attack was based largely on hacked bitcoin accounts (via virus/worm). I think this problem can be solved in the future quite easily though.

chalst 15y ago

Right. It's clear that this is not a problem with Bitcoin itself, but a problem with an institution built on top of it. If Mt Gox fails, other trading platforms could emerge to take its place. Likewise the freedom from government intervention that is the point of Bitcoin does not ensure freedom from government intervention in trading platforms built upon it. Not that I don't expect problems to emerge with Bitcoin itself...