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I don't think anyone's fretting over Mt Gox crashing and burning here. It's all the individual BTC holders that it took with it. Yeah, they probably should have

by rosser 13y ago

I don't think anyone's fretting over Mt Gox crashing and burning here. It's all the individual BTC holders that it took with it. Yeah, they probably should have known better than to use a wallet service on a cobbled-together site like that, but you sound like you're suggesting that's sufficient reason for them to be out their money. I emphatically disagree. A site, upon offering a wallet-type service has (or would have, in the presence of regulation) a fiduciary duty to its users to protect their holdings. ISTM that in the Wild West of Bitcoin, the situation is, instead, "Sucks to be you." Maybe you're comfortable living in that world. I don't think that's remotely grounds on which to suggest that everyone else should be comfortable with the same level of risk.

throwaway420 13y ago
> Yeah, they probably should have known better than to use a wallet service on a cobbled-together site like that, but you sound like you're suggesting that's sufficient reason for them to be out their money. This was an expected outcome given what information was public about Mt. Gox, but I'm not suggesting that the users deserve to be out of their money. The only thing I like about what happened is that nobody is going to bail out Mt. Gox's owners. And this incident should hopefully make people more cautious about where they store their money. > Maybe you're comfortable living in that world. I don't think that's remotely grounds on which to suggest that everyone else should be comfortable with the same level of risk. I'm also not suggesting that everybody else should be comfortable with any particular level of risk. The great thing about Bitcoin is that it's voluntary. Nobody is forcing another human to use it - you only do so if you feel it's the best avenue for you.
ericd 13y ago
I'm completely on the fence about BTC - it could enable a lot of cool new stuff, but it also seems to have some structural problems. That said, I see the lack of regulation and high level of risk as something that should just be taken into account by the buyers. This necessarily means only dipping your toe in and experimenting, not viewing it as a solid investment. When it becomes more secure, less volatile, and easier to use, people can take larger positions in it. Also, we should probably come up with better software solutions that don't rely on third parties. You can't really do anything this big without some people getting burned, unfortunately.

by rosser 13y ago

throwaway420 13y ago

> Yeah, they probably should have known better than to use a wallet service on a cobbled-together site like that, but you sound like you're suggesting that's sufficient reason for them to be out their money. This was an expected outcome given what information was public about Mt. Gox, but I'm not suggesting that the users deserve to be out of their money. The only thing I like about what happened is that nobody is going to bail out Mt. Gox's owners. And this incident should hopefully make people more cautious about where they store their money. > Maybe you're comfortable living in that world. I don't think that's remotely grounds on which to suggest that everyone else should be comfortable with the same level of risk. I'm also not suggesting that everybody else should be comfortable with any particular level of risk. The great thing about Bitcoin is that it's voluntary. Nobody is forcing another human to use it - you only do so if you feel it's the best avenue for you.

ericd 13y ago

I'm completely on the fence about BTC - it could enable a lot of cool new stuff, but it also seems to have some structural problems. That said, I see the lack of regulation and high level of risk as something that should just be taken into account by the buyers. This necessarily means only dipping your toe in and experimenting, not viewing it as a solid investment. When it becomes more secure, less volatile, and easier to use, people can take larger positions in it. Also, we should probably come up with better software solutions that don't rely on third parties. You can't really do anything this big without some people getting burned, unfortunately.