Mt. Gox has ended its redeemable codes.  The only withdraw methods are those listed on their site (e.g., bank transfer and OKPay).  

Bitcoin-24 is currently down, so I'm not sure how you would do that anyway though (other than to buy bitcoins at Mt. Gox then sell bitcoins at Bitcoin-24).

Looks like trading is happening:
 - https://www.bitfinex.com/pages/public_log

From the description:
"bitcoins dropped 270% to a low of just over $54"

How does something drop more than 100%?

If you have the .aes backup of the Blockchain.info/wallet (e.g., sent to your e-mail) you can try to decrypt it with this:
 - https://gist.github.com/anfedorov/2757171

Requisite reading:

So you think you're going to start a Bitcoin business, right?
 - http://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=124441.0

From another thread:


or:

pybtcsplit - m-of-n Private Key Splitting made easy in one simple python utility
 - http://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=104086.0

PayPal is a scam.  Well, maybe not a scam but what they do is scammy.  They have a user agreement that specifically prohibits the use of PayPal for payment for various types of transactions and digital currency is one of those types.

They are a private company and are perfectly entitled to have those restrictions.

What is scammy is to freeze your account and all funds within it (for 180 days) if they determine you've been trading for bitcoins.  

Ironically, this was the cause of one of the first "flash crashes" to hit bitcoin.  In October 2010, Mt. Gox was accepting deposits from PayPal.  Then Owner Jed's personal PayPal account was frozen, which resulted in the suspension of that funding method and a subsequent crash of the exchange rate.   Then another bitcoin seller, CoinCard, with permission from PayPal and a very customized and carefully monitored risk algorithm was operating until PayPal froze that party's PayPal account.



 - http://www.bitcoinmoney.com/post/5086167006

You'ld think with a 0% batting average, people would learn.  But no, it has happened over and over.   Some approaches tried by selling one and two dollars worth at a time.  Bzzzzt.  Thank you for playing, but no -- that was not the right answer either.  

Not only that, those who bought bitcoins would find funds in their account frozen as well.

So basically, those who are able to get away with it are those who fly under the radar ... individuals doing a personal trade here and there.

Every other seller has had PayPal come down and come down hard.

Every.   Single.    Seller.



Now VirWoX has a different approach.  They sell Second Life Lindens (SLLs) for PayPal, and then let you trade those SLLs for BTCs.    That works fine.

From the professor ... "Too shadowy, too speculative" ...

There's not much more transparent than an open protocol implemented with open source software.

At some point bitcoin will have enough total dollar valuation (TDV) so that Wall Street will get into it with an ETF.  That will then provide a method for shorting and that will provide resistance on the way up and support on the way down.

I see this pendulum swing ... bitcoin rallies and gains momentum then a concerted effort at talking it down from the academics and others occurs and bitcoin idles for a while, but then it gains traction again and that becomes undeniable where it starts to rally again and the cycle repeats.  But each time bitcoin ends with higher highs and higher lows.     

The exposure these people bring to bitcoin is invaluable.

I wish Krugman would pen a post on bitcoin each and every day!

Incidentally, the Orange County Register today had a full page in the Business section for Bitcoin:

Well, that's the format for the exchange.  e.g.,   (AAPL :NASDAQ).    But MTGOXUSD has no exchange so it is blank  (MTGOXUSD

I just read it.  It was today's paper (April 12th, 2013).

It included the one-paragraph masthead teaser on the front page of the business section.  Then the entire page 8 was devoted to Bitcoin.  (Incidentally, page 9 was a large article about the dangers of mobile payments and had a picture of a merchant's Square register setup.)

There were a few articles on the page.  One was an interview of Casascius.  The top of the page had a "What is a bitcoin" infographic.  Another article titled "Bitcoin Economics" was a primer on teh evil deflations and why Bitcoin will never work (I'm paraphrasing roughly what the article said).   The main article was this:  

Bitcoin bursts: Hacker currency gets wild ride
 - http://news.yahoo.com/bitcoin-bursts-hacker-currency-gets-wild-ride-174931830--finance.html

Sounds like a huge opportunity exists for a competitor.

Which is probably what is motivating Max Keiser to begin offering one.

Also, BitcoinFridge has re-opened:
 - http://bitcoinfridge.co.uk

Whoah ... that's different.  Not just MTG USD and MTG CAD but all "non-BTC" codes it says.

And I looked just now and there's not even a method to withdraw a BTC code, at least as far as I can tell.

Presumably you are looking to do this to take advantage of the price difference (arbitrage).

That arbitrage exists because of the difficulty in moving cash into the exchanges.

So once this friction is removed there will not be the price differences.

And thus little need to move your cash from one exchange to another.

If Bitfloor offered account-to-account (A2A) transfer, then at least you could have private individuals willing to sell their USD funds at a premium.  For instance, instead of withdrawing to a bank a person might be willing to deliver those funds directly to you in exchange for your consideration elsewhere (e.g., a deposit of cash into that person's bank account.)

That would possibly qualify them as being a money transmitter though, which is insanely expensive to offer due to compliance requirements.  That's why Mt. Gox quick completely offering their redeemable codes.

Now my coins can be spent by anyone who snags my empty beer glass after I've finished it.   Great idea!

p.s.,  That is about five articles today with Bitcoin spelled "BitCoin".   I think they know it drives us OCD people nuts and keep doing it purposely.

Agreed ... huge!

Now one thing is needed.  Accurate quotes.  It does show "accumulating data" though.

And the symbol is bad.  It shouldn't be "MTGOXUSD :", it should be maybe MTGOXBTC  ?    (as it is the spot price of a BTC expressed in dollars).    Just like AAPL :NASDAQ is a share of that stock expressed in dollars.

It is too bad there isn't an ETF up and running they could quote.

I haven't looked closely but at a minimum there were stolen coins from bitcoinica that were distributed randomly to IRC users and others:

Bitcoinica stolen coin returns
 - http://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=82581.0

and there've been many various successful exchange hacks so while some might have held onto the loot, others certainly have mixed and cashed out.

List of Major Bitcoin Heists, Thefts, Hacks, Scams, and Losses
 - http://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=83794.0

BitcoinStore doesn't set the rate, their payment processor does.
- https://bitpay.com/bitcoin-exchange-rates

And they use a rate from multiple exchanges.

Just because it is difficult to move enough funds into Mt. Gox to meet the selling pressure doesn't mean the more favorable prices at other exchanges can't be utilized.

We are getting to the point that there is no longer just one marketplace that dictates what is the current bitcoin spot price
 

Hindsight is 20/20.   But to help persuade anyone who does not yet use 2-factor auth, hopefully this helps in making an informed decision:
 - http://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=173227.msg1817257#msg1817257