surebet posted:

catte approaching apoapsis

CraigK posted:

Heresiarch posted:

so let's say that instead of gox being solvent or insolvent, there is a third option: it just goes poof and everybody's goxcoins and goxbux vanish into the ether

this could be because they ran off with everything, or because the whole company gets seized for financial misconduct, or a meteor strike on the server room, or whatever

what does that do to the other exchanges? without a flood of cheap bitcoins flooding out of gox, there won't be any immediate downward pressure. the loss of all of the "real" money inside gox obviously won't affect bitcoin's exchange rates on other exchanges

does that mean that the best thing that could happen for bitcoin itself is for gox to just steal everybody's poo poo and quit the game, even as it fucks over everybody with coins and funds in it?

i'm not actually sure how i feel about this. which would be funnier, cheap gox coins destroying the bitcoin market, or thousands of bitcoiners losing everything in one fell swoop?

Heresiarch posted:

so let's say that instead of gox being solvent or insolvent, there is a third option: it just goes poof and everybody's goxcoins and goxbux vanish into the ether

this could be because they ran off with everything, or because the whole company gets seized for financial misconduct, or a meteor strike on the server room, or whatever

what does that do to the other exchanges? without a flood of cheap bitcoins flooding out of gox, there won't be any immediate downward pressure. the loss of all of the "real" money inside gox obviously won't affect bitcoin's exchange rates on other exchanges

does that mean that the best thing that could happen for bitcoin itself is for gox to just steal everybody's poo poo and quit the game, even as it fucks over everybody with coins and funds in it?

i'm not actually sure how i feel about this. which would be funnier, cheap gox coins destroying the bitcoin market, or thousands of bitcoiners losing everything in one fell swoop?

goddamnedtwisto posted:

marginal utility is a related concept to explain why items have a variable use-value, it's not really related to the concept of intrinsic (use-) value or extrinsic (exchange-) value, but it's not particularly related to the argument he's making

intrinsic value only makes sense when dealing with commodities, it's the idea that the commodity has a value independent of it's use as a means of exchange - so gold has an intrinsic value because it can be used in electronics and chemistry, diamonds have an intrinsic value because they can be used for cutting glass, etc etc. marginal utility is the mechanism we use to explain why there is no constant exchange-value or use-value for commodities.

only complete idiots (goldbugs mostly) believe that intrinsic value exists independent of an economic system, so bitcoin jesus is not just beating the poo poo out of a strawman it's a strawman of his own side's economic "theories", because the difference between goldbugs, hard-money nuts and buttcoiners is basically zero

quote:

Tokyo, Japan, February 20th, 2014

Dear MtGox Customers,

Thank you for your patience this week while we are working on re-initiating bitcoin
withdrawals. In addition to the technical issue, this week we have experienced some
security problems, and as a result we had to relocate MtGox to our previous office building
in Shibuya (details can be found here https://support.mtgox.com/home). The move,
combined with some other security and technical challenges, pushed back our progress.

As much as we didn’t want to only provide an “update on an update”, this is the current
status. We are committed to solving this issue and will provide more information as soon
as possible to keep everyone in the loop.

We are very sorry for the delays and deeply appreciate your kind understanding and
continuous support.

Best regards,

MtGox Team

surebet posted:

of course reddit is full of after this drop

[–]nixle 8 points 1 hour ago
Ok, I'm taking my chances and wiring a $2500 over there and pick those up.

[–]MoDuReddit 2 points 46 minutes ago
I'm also all in, let's see how the next few days/weeks treat us: massive gains or lost coins

poik007 posted:

"security problems" huh

quote:

they went to hide in a poo poo hole somewhere

poik007 posted:

...but with bitcoin!

poik007 posted:

"security problems" huh

surebet posted:

either they didn't actually move or they went to hide in a poo poo hole somewhere they can't be found

poik007 posted:

"security problems" huh

Boxturret posted:

r/bitcoin posted:

[–]pitchbend 14 points 3 hours ago
Yeah let's see how many articles confuse gox with the whole Bitcoin ecosystem... I'm betting that 90%

[–]tophernator 5 points 2 hours ago
They will most likely report that the oldest and biggest Bitcoin exchange has gone down in flames taking investors money with it, and they'll be correct. According to bitcoin volume mtgox is back to being the biggest most active exchange.

[–]iwaswrongonce 2 points 31 minutes ago
You're looking at volume denominated in bitcoin. The volume is high since the price is much lower. Dollar denominated they are not the most active.

quote:

Entrepreneur makes Bitcoin gift to the University of Puget Sound


When University of Puget Sound alumnus Nicolas Cary told his alma mater he wanted to donate to a UPS fundraising campaign, school officials were excited.

When they heard how he wanted to pay -- by an up-and-coming digital currency, known as Bitcoin -- they didn’t know what to think.

“My initial reaction was: ‘Well, this is going to be interesting,’” said Sherry Mondou, vice president for finance and administration at the liberal arts college in Central Tacoma.

Cary wanted to use Bitcoin, which enables users to send money over the Internet without a credit card or bank account.

He gave to the university for philanthropic reasons, but his decision was also strategic. The Colorado native is the CEO of Blockchain, a business that offers online “wallets” for Bitcoin users to store currency.

“I wanted to make my donation in Bitcoin because that is the only way I can do it,” said Cary, who graduated from UPS in 2007 with a double major in business leadership and international political economy. “My salary is paid in Bitcoin, my employees are paid in Bitcoin -- my apartment, my travel. For me it was a logical donation.”

The size of his donation -- $10,000, when converted to cash -- doesn’t compare with the big hitters in the philanthropy world. A California-based foundation, for instance, recently committed $2 million to UPS for a fitness center.

What makes Cary’s gift remarkable is the way it was given. He claims it is the first Bitcoin contribution to a higher education institution in America. (He references a database where Bitcoin users record donations to nonprofits.)

How the currency works – including the value of the coins – requires a technical explanation that includes digital properties, divisional abilities, mathematical governing principles and comparisons to mining and precious metals.

Cary has a much simpler explanation: “It’s email for money.”

Bitcoin has been around since 2009, but it’s just starting to become known outside the tech-savvy world where it lives. Thousands of businesses, including many online-only merchants, accept the currency. Seattle will reportedly soon get some of the first automated teller machines in the U.S. that let users buy and sell bitcoin.

Bitcoin has spurred a number of startup companies, including Cary’s. He says it’s faster and cheaper than other payment methods; no fees are incurred, unlike with credit cards, and businesses don’t have to worry about data breaches because personal information isn’t stored.

The price of the currency as it translates to U.S. dollars changes depending on supply and demand. It reached a high between November and December 2013 when the market price of a single bitcoin was the equivalent of $1,203. The market price was at $558 Wednesday.

“There’s a lot of debate on whether it’s a fad or whether it’s the future,” Mondou said. “The people who are living off Bitcoin or investing in Bitcoin, they have the volatility. But for us, we were able to accept the donation without having to incur that risk.”

Before accepting the donation, Mondou researched Bitcoin and how UPS could transfer the digital currency. Ultimately the school created an account with an electronic payment processing system known as BitPay.

After a little research, Mondou said Bitcoin started to make sense.

“In some ways I started to think of it as ‘Well, how different is this than a stock gift?’” she said. “Stock prices are going to go up and down.”

UPS officials cashed in the currency right away, but Cary said if they’d held on to it for a year the amount may have been significantly more.

The choice to give money to his former school was something he’d thought about while he was a student. Scholarships and student loans paid for his education.

Cary’s donation was made to the 2013-14 Alumni Fund and will be part of the college’s $125 million One (of a Kind) comprehensive campaign that supports student financial aid, academic programs and research, new facilities, operations and initiatives meant to help students succeed. The campaign has received $109 million in gifts to date.

The university is now equipped to accept donations of bitcoin if the opportunity arises again, Mondou said.

That’s good news, said Cary, who believes Bitcoin is on the verge of changing the way the world does business.