Bitcoin Forum

shutdown.  I'm sure that is the next objective of the US govt.

The most positive thing I've seen lately is that www.wm-center.com in Russia is making a market in BTC.  Fortunately, Russia is not part of the US umbrella and seems to be our savior as BTC holders.

Any of you dialed-in folks know how antagonistic the Japanese govt is towards BTC?

I don't see any mention about bitcoin on that site, only other digital currencies.

As for Mt. Gox, MegaUpload style shutdown could happen any time. Therefore I stronly suggest for everyone to store their bitcoins somewhere safe, such as in a BrainWallet, paper wallet, blockchain.info wallet, traditional style on hard drive or Silk Road wallet ;)

Just click on "Buy" or "Sell" at www.wm-center.com

for instance, when BTC was $4.74 on Mt. Gox, they were $4 bid , $5.2 offer ...... not good terms but willing to stand on a market nonetheless.  Andreesen and those guys should set up an exchange in Russia or China.  You would think that the Scandinavian countries would respect this type of consensual trade and not stifle e-commerce with BTC  If Mt. Gox goes down, this selloff is going to look like a cakewalk.

before the creation of bitcoin exchanges, bitcoins have been traded peer to peer :  http://bitcoin-otc.com (http://bitcoin-otc.com)
Of course, this is more difficult than using mtgox, but I think people should be prepared for that possibility.

Note for speculators:  If exchanges get shut down, there will be a selling panic.
Such a panic is an excellent investment opportunity for those who can buy coins at low prices.
However, only those who have the possibility to buy and sell elsewhere will be able to use this opportunity.
If you want to buy and sell on bitcoin-otc, you need to setup an account (which requires technical skills) and
to already have some trust ratings. This means that you cannot switch from mtgox to bitcoin-otc instantly.
better get prepared for that...

Wow, horrible rates. Can't really recommend buying from there.

For european users, bitcoin.de seems to be pretty good somewhat decentralized exchange. Fiat money is sent with bank transfers, and bitcoins are held in escrow (If I understood correctly, haven't yet used the site myself). I hope they start promoting it more in the SEPA zone and people start using it.

It's not like mtgox is the last exchange standing. I actually think mtgox going away (for a while) would be beneficial to bitcoin, as the volume would spread out over smaller exchanges, and shutting down any of them after that wouldn't be so disruptive.

there should be some website like btcnearme
but to include (more) travelers that would be willing to transport the cash

tourists that visit some country...

there was ubitex, until the guy decided to split :)

Tell me about  it.  I was the majority shareholder  who got fleeced by cuddlefish in that one.

Its too bad because it was a good idea that still needs development for just these reasons

I strongly agree that we really do need services that allow for convenient real life exchanging and I also see online p2p dark exchanges as one great possibility. It's time to wake up people and start doing something about it.

Why shut down?  If they tried MtGox could just move to the Cayman Islands.  It is the capital of hedge funds and after regulators in the US forced FOREX exchanges to limit their margins, many FOREX exchanges have left for places like the Caymans.

Dwolla doesn't have much chance of being "shut down" because they aren't doing anything weird.

They could get bought out, but that's something else.

Mtgox.com has lasted this long & they continue to increase security.  I think people should outline scenarios of "how" they would get shutdown.  Also, "why" they would get shutdown.

That way people can debate the "how" and "why" rather than just panic.

TradeHill shutting down is because of their business failure due to regulations.  As far as I can tell, no one has lost money other than TradeHill, yet.

I don't think there will be any trouble from the Japanese govt.
They are much calmer than their US counterparts.

For the most part,  no one has even heard of Bitcoins in Japan,  but through some good luck and social networking,  the Japanese porn industry is now very interested in Bitcoins.

Dont forget www.bitcoin.de

If no one does it till summer I will.

So really what we are seeing in this post is the OP frantically spreading FUD to promote an unknown exchange run in a country with a long and checkered past as a haven for online scams.

Thanks for playing.

A megaupload-style shutdown of Mt.Gox seems unlikely. Unlike megaupload, Mt.Gox is proactive about complying with regulations rather than trying to game them.

What is more likely to happen is that Mt.Gox shuts down voluntarily in the face of too much regulatory pressure.

Either way, it's good to be prepared.

Crypto X Change could offload a fair bit of Gox' business overnight if they went down. They're fully licensed and in compliance with Australian law, and international AML law.

Gox going down would be disruptive, but Bitcoiners must be used to that, right?

Thank you for this link.