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The main feature of BTC is that it's unregulated, so indeed, if you don't provide the security usually enforced by governments, there isn't any. Usually, when
by fab13n 13y ago
The main feature of BTC is that it's unregulated, so indeed, if you don't provide the security usually enforced by governments, there isn't any.
Usually, when using online services such as MtGox, you're secured by the fact that their reputation is worth more than what they can scam out of you. It's vital for eBay, AirBnB, the Silk Road etc. that you trust them, so they won't let an horror story unfold publicly just to steal you a couple of grants.
If a service / person is in a position to pull off a scam worth more than the reputation / survival of the service, it's dangerous to trust their good will. MtGox was predictably dangerous. Given the poorly aligned interests of MtGox, and the target they represented for black-hat hackers, all this is a (very expensive) lecture in basic economics for libertarian masses.
- dragonwriter 13y ago> The main feature of BTC is that it's unregulated The main feature of BTC is that, independently of regulation by any other entity that may be applied to it, it is "regulated" by the design of the protocol, which, among other things, provides decentralized issuance and transaction verification, and predefined supply constraints. A popular myth about BTC is that it is unregulated (and, in some forms of the myth, impossible to regulate) by government.
- fab13n 13y agoWhich is as close to "unregulated" as useful definitions go: once unleashed and bootstrapped, no human nor political organization can directly drive it. It's only self-regulated the way a free market is self-regulated, which is almost the exact opposite of what one has in mind when they talk about "regulations". (Actually governments can influence its value significantly, by stating on its legality, and the legality/taxation of its conversion into state moneys / commodities).
- snorkel 13y agoWhat boggles the mind is Mt Gox started as a site for trading Magic The Gathering cards. I suppose in the code btc was just a special type MTG card? Incredible it got this far.
- dangrossman 13y agoThere was never a MTG trading card site on that domain. This is a myth you should stop spreading.
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- snorkel 13y agoWell if that's so untrue then you should take your mythbusting campaign to the Mt Gox page on WikiPedia where it clearly states this was the original intent of their business. Mt Gox stands for "Magic The Gathering Online eXchange", does it not?
- dllthomas 13y agoIt was almost certainly the intent on purchasing the domain, but that doesn't establish that one was actually running. My understanding of what evidence is available leads me to think it never was (particularly a lack of anyone posting anything about the domain in conjunction with Magic anywhere except comments like the above).
- dangrossman 13y agoStripe.com once hosted a gallery of Furby pictures. Does that mean we should blame any bugs in their payment platform on misbehaving toys? No, previous hypothetical uses of the domain (by a different owner no less; Jed McCaleb who registered the domain and Mark Karpeles who owns it today are different people) are irrelevant, and mtgox.com does not stand for that.
- Crito 13y agoIndeed, it seems relatively apparent that the name was originally related to MTG, and the original person had plans to create a MTG website, but I have never seen any evidence to suggest that a MTG trading website was actually created, let alone then re-purposed to be a bitcoin exchange. There are plenty of things to find stunning or hilarious about mtgox without making things up.