4 ms·

This is terrible news for Bitcoin. The currency will die without the exchanges.

by dublinben 13y ago

weavejester 13y ago
Because of an easily fixed bug in the software of some exchanges?
- watty 13y ago
  Yes, confidence in a currency is very important to its survival. The crazy volatility, the inability to withdraw sometimes, the competitors, the uncertainty everywhere. Bitcoin is not helping itself.
  - weavejester 13y ago
    It seems unlikely to me that, after surviving all the things you mention, Bitcoin's downfall would be the result of some temporary downtime from a couple of exchanges. I guess you could argue it's the proverbial final straw on the camel's back, though.
- Phlarp 13y ago
  Because of the massive (and justified) collapse of confidence in everyone building web servies for this space. It shouldn't surprise anyone that after months (years!) of BTC services absconding with millions of dollars worth of users money and now the exchanges starting to collapse in a similar fashion (users can't get money out) that the wider user base of bitcoin would begin to default toward not trusting services that purport to store coins 'securely'. This is bad in the short term as the remaining exchanges prices show, but likely a positive progression in the safe use of crypto currencies going forward--
  - weavejester 13y ago
    I generally agree that this is bad in the short term, but likely a net positive in the long run. Bitcoin's delivering some very harsh lessons in crypto-currency security.
    - Phlarp 13y ago
      Speaking from personal experience; I was driven to learn a lot about crypto and information security in general because of bitcoin. As a developer I think the correct mindset towards security is important to have day in and day out; Perhaps that's the real social engineering of the NSA leaks. Nothing could be better for the distributed security of our country than each and every individual developer being more acutely aware of security concerns at every keystroke.
NotOscarWilde 13y ago
Being a Mt. Gox client which had some money on their server as they paused BTC withdrawals, this gives me hope that the flaw on their side was indeed purely technical and that they're not nearing bankrupcy just yet.
matkam 13y ago
Not too bad. It will encourage people to maintain control of their bitcoin
- eterm 13y ago
  If you maintain control of both bitcoin and dollar, how could the exchange function? It requires storage of both. Gambling exchanges have worked well for years, I wonder if the first serious competitor in the btc exchange space will be from one of those exchanges. (Unlike established financial exchanges they might be willing to risk a reputation hit for getting established in the space.)
aw3c2 13y ago
Heh, you summed up the stupidity of the current cryptocurrency rush in one sentence. Shouldn't they be self-contained and their success not be affected by exchanges?
- rtpg 13y ago
  I wouldn't call it stupidity. It's like saying that the internet wouldn't last very long without ISPs. Without many real places to deal with USD <-> BTC, then of course it will be hard to deal with the cryptocurrency (the passage is needed to allow for a transition period in currencies).
  - aw3c2 13y ago
    It is more like saying houses would not last without doors if you want another analogy out of this world.
- natrius 13y ago
  That doesn't make any sense. How do you obtain a new currency without an exchange?
  - sirsar 13y ago
    You could use p2p transactions, get paid in it as a service, get it as a handout, sell something for it, or, in the case of Bitcoin, mine it.
  - afterburner 13y ago
    By getting paid with that currency.
- celticninja 13y ago
  How do you self-contain anythng in this world of interconnectivity? If you understood cryptocurrency you would understamd that their success is not measured in the price point. That is the most marketable aspect so that is what you know, the utility and use of the protocol is as good if not a better measure of their success. the relative speed with which issues are identified and resolved speaks to the success of the protocol not the daily/weekly highs and lows.
higherpurpose 13y ago
I think this will be fixed in next-gen protocols like Ethereum: http://www.ethereum.org/ http://www.ethereum.org/ We need exchanges that are also P2P like Bitcoin.
celticninja 13y ago
oh god you have no idea other than reading headlines and extrapolating nonsense. This is not going to kill any exchange (except perhaps mtgox, but that is due to an accumulation of poor performance rather than this minor issue).

This is terrible news for Bitcoin. The currency will die without the exchanges.

weavejester 13y ago

Because of an easily fixed bug in the software of some exchanges?

watty 13y ago
Yes, confidence in a currency is very important to its survival. The crazy volatility, the inability to withdraw sometimes, the competitors, the uncertainty everywhere. Bitcoin is not helping itself.
- weavejester 13y ago
  It seems unlikely to me that, after surviving all the things you mention, Bitcoin's downfall would be the result of some temporary downtime from a couple of exchanges. I guess you could argue it's the proverbial final straw on the camel's back, though.
Phlarp 13y ago
Because of the massive (and justified) collapse of confidence in everyone building web servies for this space. It shouldn't surprise anyone that after months (years!) of BTC services absconding with millions of dollars worth of users money and now the exchanges starting to collapse in a similar fashion (users can't get money out) that the wider user base of bitcoin would begin to default toward not trusting services that purport to store coins 'securely'. This is bad in the short term as the remaining exchanges prices show, but likely a positive progression in the safe use of crypto currencies going forward--
- weavejester 13y ago
  I generally agree that this is bad in the short term, but likely a net positive in the long run. Bitcoin's delivering some very harsh lessons in crypto-currency security.
  - Phlarp 13y ago
    Speaking from personal experience; I was driven to learn a lot about crypto and information security in general because of bitcoin. As a developer I think the correct mindset towards security is important to have day in and day out; Perhaps that's the real social engineering of the NSA leaks. Nothing could be better for the distributed security of our country than each and every individual developer being more acutely aware of security concerns at every keystroke.

NotOscarWilde 13y ago

Being a Mt. Gox client which had some money on their server as they paused BTC withdrawals, this gives me hope that the flaw on their side was indeed purely technical and that they're not nearing bankrupcy just yet.

matkam 13y ago

Not too bad. It will encourage people to maintain control of their bitcoin

eterm 13y ago
If you maintain control of both bitcoin and dollar, how could the exchange function? It requires storage of both. Gambling exchanges have worked well for years, I wonder if the first serious competitor in the btc exchange space will be from one of those exchanges. (Unlike established financial exchanges they might be willing to risk a reputation hit for getting established in the space.)

aw3c2 13y ago

Heh, you summed up the stupidity of the current cryptocurrency rush in one sentence. Shouldn't they be self-contained and their success not be affected by exchanges?

rtpg 13y ago
I wouldn't call it stupidity. It's like saying that the internet wouldn't last very long without ISPs. Without many real places to deal with USD <-> BTC, then of course it will be hard to deal with the cryptocurrency (the passage is needed to allow for a transition period in currencies).
- aw3c2 13y ago
  It is more like saying houses would not last without doors if you want another analogy out of this world.
natrius 13y ago
That doesn't make any sense. How do you obtain a new currency without an exchange?
- sirsar 13y ago
  You could use p2p transactions, get paid in it as a service, get it as a handout, sell something for it, or, in the case of Bitcoin, mine it.
- afterburner 13y ago
  By getting paid with that currency.
celticninja 13y ago
How do you self-contain anythng in this world of interconnectivity? If you understood cryptocurrency you would understamd that their success is not measured in the price point. That is the most marketable aspect so that is what you know, the utility and use of the protocol is as good if not a better measure of their success. the relative speed with which issues are identified and resolved speaks to the success of the protocol not the daily/weekly highs and lows.

higherpurpose 13y ago

I think this will be fixed in next-gen protocols like Ethereum: http://www.ethereum.org/ http://www.ethereum.org/ We need exchanges that are also P2P like Bitcoin.

celticninja 13y ago

oh god you have no idea other than reading headlines and extrapolating nonsense. This is not going to kill any exchange (except perhaps mtgox, but that is due to an accumulation of poor performance rather than this minor issue).