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Bitcoins in the News

Posted: 02-24-2014 06:53 AM
by kbot
Couple of recent articles I found interesting....

I honestly don't know much about the subject, except for what I've seen posted here. But, it seems to be going mainstream.....

Docs now taking payment by bitcoin

Whether looking to draw attention to their practices, experiment with new technology or simply have a bit of fun with their otherwise dreary financial operations, several American medical professionals are now accepting bitcoins, the Web-based virtual currency, in addition to dollars.

Bitcoin, a peer-to-peer, open-source digital currency network that was first launched five years ago, has been getting a lot of media attention lately ¨C sometimes for dark stories such as those spotlighting its role as the currency of choice for Silk Road, an online black market for illegal drugs that was shut down by the FBI this past October.

But it's also getting strong positive attention, especially from Internet thought leaders, because the Bitcoin system, which depends on no centralized authority but rather a loosely affiliated community of techies, offers some key breakthroughs in the areas of information exchange ¨C particularly between parties unknown to each other ¨C and digital cryptography.

The legal status of this so-called cryptocurrency is in flux worldwide, as various policymakers, monetary bodies and tax agencies get up to speed on its true ramifications.

In the meantime, curious people can still educate themselves and explore this new payment alternative without fear and in relative safety.

Paul Abramson, MDDoctors who have taken bitcoins have found that doing so is both simple and relatively "unmagical," as San Francisco physician Paul Abramson, MD, put it.

Abramson, founder of My Doctor Medical Group, is a former software programmer and trained electrical engineer with a significant personal interest in privacy.

It was privacy that drew him to learn more about bitcoins. Early assessments of the technology suggested the bitcoin exchange system had significant anonymity protections that could augment existing medical privacy laws and allow patients who sought the ultimate discretion a nearly invisible form of payment.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/201 ... story.html

You can buy bitcoins at South Station

The ATM at Boston's South Station snatched the money from my hand and didn¡'t even give me a receipt. But my smartphone's green glow let me know I had just invested $5 in the world's most controversial, questionable, and exciting new currency, the bitcoin.

The machine, which is the first of its kind in Boston, was officially plugged in Wednesday morning right next to Pinkberry and began spewing bitcoins, virtually.

You can think of it as Internet cash, said Chris Yim, cofounder of Liberty Teller, the Boston company that operates the new bitcoin ATM. This is just a more secure way of buying things online.

How bitcoin works It is also confusing to many people. That ¡s why a Google search turns up such posts as, How to explain bitcoin to your grandmother, and, What the heck is a bitcoin?

The five-year-old currency is not backed by any central government, but can be spent just like dollars in a small but increasing number of places, including some local restaurants and the popular online retailer Overstock.com.

Bitcoins are stored by users in so-called digital wallets, and each coin has a unique online address. Transactions are managed by thousands of computers linked in a worldwide network, helping to ensure their integrity.

There is also the benefit of privacy. While purchases are shared with the entire network, creating a permanent record, users don't have to personally identify themselves the same way someone handing over cash at a register doesn't have to provide the clerk with a name. The hackers who stole millions of credit card numbers from Target during the holiday season would have a much tougher time cracking the bitcoin code.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/201 ... story.html

Posted: 02-24-2014 09:24 AM
by Fan
Do not get sucked in, these are just "interest" pieces. I mean, read about it, but certainly don't sink any real actual money into it.

Posted: 02-24-2014 09:36 AM
by kbot
I'm not comfortable with electronic funds just on principle. Ever since I saw the run on The Bank of New England back in the 1980s, with lines literally around the block and people not being able to access their money for weeks, my trust in financial institutions - and the means by which they work - haven't filled me with glowing confidence... I still don't have a Paypal account, and I don't do electronic banking. Get strange looks from people at work when we discuss this. :rolleyes:

Posted: 02-24-2014 09:40 AM
by Fan
kbot wrote: I'm not comfortable with electronic funds just on principle. Ever since I saw the run on The Bank of New England back in the 1980s, with lines literally around the block and people not being able to access their money for weeks, my trust in financial institutions - and the means by which they work - haven't filled me with glowing confidence... I still don't have a Paypal account, and I don't do electronic banking. Get strange looks from people at work when we discuss this. :rolleyes:


Nothing wrong with that, although realize you do electronic banking, all your funds are managed electronically of course. It is all a sliding scale of risk for me, with bitcoin at almost 100% certainty you will lose money to under 1% certainty someone can steal my card number and password and fool with my online banking.

Posted: 02-24-2014 11:18 AM
by kbot
Fan wrote: Nothing wrong with that, although realize you do electronic banking, all your funds are managed electronically of course. It is all a sliding scale of risk for me, with bitcoin at almost 100% certainty you will lose money to under 1% certainty someone can steal my card number and password and fool with my online banking.


I know what you mean - I just don't like the idea of managing my accounts remotely over the internet.

Posted: 02-25-2014 11:50 AM
by kbot
Uh-oh.........

Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox goes offline amid turmoil

Questions swirled Tuesday about the future of embattled Bitcoin exchange Mt.Gox after reports that its chief executive had resigned from the board of a key advocacy group and its website has been disabled.

Bloomberg reported that Mark Karpeles, chief executive officer of Mt.Gox, the Tokyo-based Bitcoin exchange that froze withdrawals earlier this month, submitted his resignation from the board of directors at Bitcoin Foundation, the group that manages the currency.

In a statement posted on its website, the foundation said a "tragic violation of the trust of users of Mt.Gox was the result of one company's actions and does not reflect the resilience or value of bitcoin and the digital currency industry."

Mt. Gox confirmed all Bitcoin transactions have been closed temporarily, but did not cite a reason for the shut down.

"In the event of recent news reports and the potential repercussions on MtGox's operations and the market, a decision was taken to close all transactions for the time being in order to protect the site and our users," read a statement on the Mt. Gox website. "We will be closely monitoring the situation and will react accordingly."

On Bitcoin exchanges, the currency's value has fallen below $490 from about $545 where it opened trading Tuesday. At one point it traded as low as $418. For most of the currency's history, each digital coin had been worth less than $10.

The New York Times reported that a number of leading Bitcoin companies jointly announced that Mt. Gox was planning to file for bankruptcy after months of technological problems and what appeared to have been a major theft. A document circulating widely in the Bitcoin world said the company had lost 744,000 Bitcoins in a theft that had gone unnoticed for years, the Times reported.

The Wall Street Journal was among the first to report that the mtgox.com website was not able to be accessed.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2014 ... e/5801093/

Posted: 02-25-2014 11:57 AM
by Fan
that is not good. They were the biggest player in exchanges.

Posted: 02-25-2014 12:10 PM
by kbot
I'm wondering how much money people typically put into Bitcoins where the money might be spent on what would be considered luxury items, as opposed to people who put money into more traditional brick & morter banks, and have their money linked to debit/ credit cards and traditional checks and cash?

Posted: 02-25-2014 05:14 PM
by voguy
My doc takes cash, and everything is between the two of us.

Posted: 02-25-2014 07:45 PM
by fos
I like your position voguy.

I read a lot about bit coins. It didn't seem like it would be viable for the long term, or short! Much like the fed but I have no choice with them. :(

Posted: 02-26-2014 10:46 AM
by kbot
More news.........

The basic message to take from this, I guess, is to use these at your own risk. No help from the governments are in the works.

The logical extension of this is the central banks are pissed at the concept......


No Bailout for Bitcoin Holders

Imagine that the leading stockbroker in a country closed its doors without giving any reason. Its clients would be in a panic and customers of rival firms would be very nervous. That is exactly what has happened to Bitcoin, the leading pseudo-currency.

The website of the Mt. Gox Bitcoin exchange in Tokyo disappeared from cyberspace on Tuesday morning, with no explanation provided. The exchange had previously admitted to problems with “transaction malleability,” a Bitcoin-world euphemism for susceptibility to hacking.

Internet chat was intense. What looks like an internal memo from the company was circulating the web, stating that there had been thefts from accounts that Mt. Gox customers had assumed were perfectly safe. It is not clear whether the document is genuine. The price of Bitcoin on other exchanges dropped 8 percent, down 55 percent from last November’s all-time high, according to bitcoinaverage.com.

If Mt. Gox were an officially licensed broker, the government would be the first port of call. The relevant authorities would investigate and might even make good on some losses under a taxpayer- or industry-funded compensation scheme. Of course, if Mt. Gox had to meet government-mandated security standards, it might not have been allowed to operate without correcting a software vulnerability identified as far back as 2011.

But Bitcoin’s central appeal is that it is free from government interference. That is not quite true, since Bitcoin cannot make illegal activity legal. Bitcoin entrepreneur Charlie Shrem was an industry leader until his January indictment on charges that he used the techno-currency to launder money.

Still, the distance from the official world is great enough that Mt. Gox customers are almost totally on their own. The purported internal memo suggests that other Bitcoin fans might help out, so as to salvage the would-be financial asset’s reputation. That’s a thin reed to cling to.

The expensive regulation and political backstops of conventional money are far from foolproof – look at the recently released Federal Reserve minutes from 2008 to see dysfunction in action. But the system is better than any known alternative, including one based on sophisticated software algorithms.

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/02/25/ ... n-holders/

Posted: 02-26-2014 04:55 PM
by voguy
No help from the governments are in the works.


Bitcoins are NOT in the interest of the government, so they will not render any assistance, and perhaps even sabotage any support.

Posted: 02-27-2014 06:30 AM
by kbot
voguy wrote: Bitcoins are NOT in the interest of the government, so they will not render any assistance, and perhaps even sabotage any support.


How is having a central bank in the interest of the government?
The government pays many times over to use its own money with our current system

BITCOIN: BOOM OR BUST?

Posted: 03-09-2017 01:09 AM
by Riddick
Image

The rapidly rising price of bitcoin is leading many to question if the digital currency’s boom is about to bust. Strategist Peter Schiff, for instance, recently warned “today’s bitcoin could be tomorrow’s beanie babies.”

As of this writing, bitcoin is up almost 30% in the past month and over 100% in the past year. It has been hitting new highs on an almost daily basis and recently crossed the $1200 mark.

Looking at a chart of bitcoin’s price as it climbed and eventually overtook its long-held, previous all-time high, set in the final months of 2013, it’s easy to see why some people think it’s a bubble in danger of popping.

But Vikram Mansharamani, who wrote a book about identifying bubbles, says the cryptocurrency does not show most of the telltale signs of a financial bubble. Bitcoin’s boom might not be a fluke. FULL STORY

Bitcoin hits record $2,000 — and rising

Posted: 05-23-2017 01:08 AM
by Riddick