No it's not a good idea. See my post here about the Bernie Madoff Ponzi that cost investors 18 billion in a heavily regulated financial environment.

Regulations get written with influence from special interests so the little guy isn't effectively protected. Instead the market is distorted suppressing innovation and propping up crony capitalism. A true free market provides tougher regulation, because people are more careful when knowing they won't be bailed out.

They can be given that power from whom? JP Morgan? A government can only do what its citizens allow it to do.

That's why governments that wish to retain as much power as possible (basically all of them) restrict their citizens as much as is practical, because not doing so empowers them. Ultimately so long as citizens have little ability and sentiment to violently resist their government any government can remain in power, e.g. communist regimes like Russia, China, North Korea etc. The U.S. is interestingly unique, because its legal framework was specifically crafted to keep too much power from consolidating into government, while empowering ordinary people (e.g. freedom of the press, right to bear arms etc.). So the U.S. tests its boundaries instead with regard to the U.S. Constitution (see NSA, Snowden etc.). At the end of the day, though, there is so much power simply in controlling money that sufficient control over that is enough for any government to get away with most anything. Bitcoin, however, will push back on even that.

This has been your daily civics lesson.

That's the thing about clear public statements in politics. It's quite hard to reverse them.

Right on! You got that right. Who would have thought the central bank for the US would join others like the central bank for Cyprus saying, essentially, it's not their business. Right. On.

That's easy. The biggest thing this community needs is easier coin usage. This includes everything from acquiring to dealing with coins. The #1 biggest priority in that is simple and secure coin storage, with easy retrieval to be spent. Lack of this really fueled this MtGox loss, because people used them as a storage wallet.

The two best efforts so far in that area IMO are bitcoinarmory.com and bitcointrezor.com. Both are in early stages and working to improve. While these are a huge leap forward, I still don't see either as perfect for the average user who struggles with technology. I don't have the exact answer. It's something I constantly think about myself, but the more people trying to solve usability problems elegantly, I think, the better.

A big part of the problem is people were unwisely using MtGox as a storage wallet. I and many others have often warned people against doing that but it's not easy to reach everyone.

A real help would be easier methods for people to secure their own coins. We're working on this as a community, but progress is slow. Regulatory uncertainty at state level for money transmitter compliance complicate the issue, as competent services which might focus on secure management of coins for users are hindered from entering the market.

The MtGox fiasco is indeed tragic, and is making far reaching headlines. Many of Bitcoin's critics are predicting its downfall and one US senator used the opportunity to call for an unbelievable ban.

Caught up within our small niche it's easy to forget what happens in the wider world and financial system.

Please help remind everyone, politicians and critics alike, of necessary perspective:

Bernard Madoff in a heavily regulated financial environment cost investors 18 billion USD, while the MtGox situation is estimated at a sizable, but far far lower loss of under .5 billion.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Madoff#Size_of_loss_to_investors

Former congressman and presidential candidate Ron Paul giving his opinion on the matter said matter of factly the government shouldn't interfere with Bitcoin. Paul said there's no need to regulate bitcoin, because the markets will. "I think the market is much tougher," he said.

http://thehill.com/blogs/regwatch/199214-ron-paul-feds-shouldnt-interfere-with-bitcoin

Indeed, our community is already discussing measures to limit the ability of such a tragic event from occurring in the future, including more transparent records for exchanges.

It depends when you ask that question.

Earlier in Bitcoin's history it was possible to deposit money into Dwolla from a US bank account for free, then have Dwolla USD show up on a Bitcoin exchange for $0.25. You could then convert the 7,000 USD to BTC for about .5% which is $35. Then send that for about $0.05 on the blockchain for a total cost of $35.30. So that comes out cheaper and you have a currency conversion in there.

This is no longer an option due to US regulatory pressures on Dwolla, but don't blame that on Bitcoin.

I must thank Al Gore. The Internet is the absolute best.

You're right. I guess being involved with Bitcoin for a while puts one naturally on the defensive. For the record I haven't made any comments on that Yahoo page, and I doubt many of those viewers will see this thread.

Check out this quote from "Michael". At first I thought he was on our side, speaking cleverly about fiat dollars:


but then:


[facepalm]

Then there are those with a modicum of common sense which gives me hope. From "Sharon":

Answer: tell him any fluctuations in delivering to him the form of payment he wants is not your problem. You're not his Forex broker. Or pay him in USD as is owed and deal with the USD system. (or for the advantages of using Bitcoin keep some on hand...)

Hey! Nice to see a post from you again.

For you newcomers TradeHill is what should have been the biggest exchange, an example of doing things right. Thank regulation for pushing them out of the game.

Bump for the morning viewers.

For those claiming it's the easiest thing in the world to find competent leadership may I remind everyone Sony is a multinational conglomerate corporation with a current market cap around 18 billion USD. Sony absolutely dwarfs MtGox, and yet:


PlayStation Network hack: why it took Sony seven days to tell the world



Sony PS3 Hacked (again): All Future Games Decryptable, No Solution Possible


Securing regular data has got to be a hell of a lot easier than securing untraceable bitcoins. Need I mention the recent Target hack resulting in financial and personal data of 110 million shoppers being stolen?

If you look at BTC-e.com price charts right now you'll see what I mean by the magnitude of this catching people off guard.

Certainly people have been speculating about the solvency of MtGox for quite some time. They've had known seizures by the US DHS totaling millions. Still, MtGox at one point was signing up 20K new users per day, and had substantial trade volume. While their finances could have taken hits, it seemed reasonable they could survive over the longer term. I myself rationalized they were profiting from Bitcoin since before it was $0.50 each. Surely they had a amassed a lot of BTC which had now increased substantially quite apart from their normal business profit.



He was the CEO. Ultimately the buck stopped with him. All of the successes or failures are direct results of his decisions (or lack thereof). Anyone with money tied up in MtGox would disagree with you they should disappear entirely.


That's why I used the word "appears" in my post. Regardless, we can choose to try and make the best of the situation or wallow in despair. My post reflects my preference and advice.

Not MtGox, as in Mark Karpeles. I believe there are competent professionals who, upon seeing MtGox floundering like a dying fish in water, understood the good to be had by the community for swooping in and taking over.

See my post here: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=486236.0

Make no mistake. The situation with MtGox affects all of us involved with crypto currency. The two things of most obvious concern are regulation, and confidence, both of which can be impacted by this situation.  

The magnitude of this has caught a lot of the community off guard, but assessing a problem accurately is the first step to finding solutions. I propose a few things to help us move past this.

First, let's show some maturity. It won't help any of us to dwell on the shortcomings of prior leadership at MtGox. I'll explain what I mean by "prior" in a second. Please, let's all do what we can to keep doom and gloom expressions about Bitcoin as a whole, its short term price, and whatever other fallout comes from this to a minimum. There are some who would gladly play on the fearful to make a short term profit.

This document appears to be a real action plan: http://www.scribd.com/doc/209050732/MtGox-Situation-Crisis-Strategy-Draft

Watching as things play out it makes sense. It appears MtGox is transitioning into more competent, professional hands, and will be re-branded as "Gox". This is a big positive for our community, as those with losses in MtGox have a better chance of some recovery with it still in existence. Aside from its problems, it has a very profitable business. The above document estimates existing liabilities at around 120M USD. Consider WhatsApp was just acquired by Facebook for 19 billion, and we're still early days in Bitcoin.

As someone noted in another thread this marks a turning point for Bitcoin, as it moves us further away from fly-by-night scams and amateur hour financial services providers. The MyBitcoin.com wallet scam was replaced by the reputable Coinbase. The debacle of Bitcoinica was replaced by the long stable BitFinex. Out of the ashes of MtGox we as a community will again emerge stronger.

As a community we can support this effort to move past the prior management. Pulling together our influence is great.

Second, we should pre-empt any possible regulation. There has already been volunteer announcements from exchanges for greater transparency of financial records. As a community we can support, applaud, and demand this for the good and protection of the whole ecosystem.

Last, we can do better with education and practice of smarter coin protection and handling. We should always remember to take ultimate responsibility for our own coin handling and financial decisions, but we need to teach others best practices too. Also, let's reward the business with plans that align well with keeping customer coins safe.

It's really very simple and can be summed up in one word:

POWER

Put simply, money is power. Those who control the money control the power. It's not that Bitcoin needs to allow anonymity, or that it needs a limit on coins at 21 million, or that it needs transfers without middlemen where accounts can't be frozen.

It's that it makes these options available to those who want it, to use to their ends, even the most common person in the streets. The flip side of that is giving these options not to common people, but only a top class of privleged people (bankers/politicians).

Where would you rather see the power of the world?

Please see my post here on money laundering hypocrisy:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=449534.msg4965176#msg4965176

It's all you need to know.