PC World Claims Counterfeit Bitcoins

[Rob Lister]

PC World Claims Counterfeit Bitcoins

read it for yourself.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/234890/counterfeit_bitcoins_caused_price_crash_exchange_reveals.html#tk.hp_new

Counterfeit Bitcoins Caused Price Crash, Exchange Reveals

mt gox is claiming (or implying) the coins dumped were counterfeit.

true or untrue, this is very serious. 

[airdata]

idk..

mtgox said in their recent release that the coins were simply numbers, but that the coins sent were from wallets... idk.  Somebody smarter than me will surely post in a second or 2.

[dinzy]

I don't think counterfeit is a good term.  The hacker allegedly gave himself fake bitcoins and a fake 1 mil USD balance.  If you call the bitcoins counterfeit then you have to also conclude that he counterfeited 1 million USD.

[TierNolan]

Right, this is the key quote:

The fake Bitcoins and cash "existed inside Mt.Gox alone," Barr says,

Adding money to a bank account isn't counterfeiting.

[wolftaur]

Nobody actually "created" counterfeit coins, they simply told the database they had a bunch more coins. Mt.Gox's software relies on the database to say how many coins each user has, and relies on it being consistent -- i.e., the total number of coins listed in the database should match what's in the wallet. The attacker broke that consistency -- so they couldn't have, say, withdrawn more coins than Mt.Gox actually had in the wallet.

[datafish]

Right, those "counterfeit" coins could never have made it out of the Mt Gox system.

[TraderTimm]

Hope someone set these idiots straight in their article comments.

Honestly, can't turn around without someone perpetuating some kind of nonsense.

[Chick]

Welcome to the media world!

[Rob Lister]

Hope someone set these idiots straight in their article comments.

Honestly, can't turn around without someone perpetuating some kind of nonsense.

yes.  set them straight.  leave a comment and email the author.  i did.  you should too.

this rumor, once started, will spread like fire.

[Serge]

Welcome to the media world!

Where news reporting equals coming up with your own "facts"

[kwukduck]

Why is it that every day MtGox's words sound less and less trustworthy to me...?
Strange...

[TiagoTiago]

Looking at the "Similar Articles" box it seems over there they mostly just wanna make people think Bitcoin is a bust...

[finnthecelt]

Looking at the "Similar Articles" box it seems over there they mostly just wanna make people think Bitcoin is a bust...

Et Tu, PC World?

[Jaime Frontero]

well, well.

mr. paul (the author of that pathetic article) appears to have uncovered the only disadvantage to Bitcoin that i've run across, to date.  as a purely decentralized currency - without an owning entity or any responsible party - there's nobody to sue the bastards.

they can say whatever they like about Bitcoin, and there's no existing mechanism (legally, that would be no injured party) to fight with.

"counterfeit" my ass.

[adaman]

If you have realy a little understanding how databases and bitcoins are working and assuming you read this article carefully and understand it you shouldn´t come to the conclusion the author is an idiot.
I am not an expert but in the database are no bitcoins stored. Only numbers that represents an accounts amount of bitcoin. If you "fake" or "counterfeight" this number you just change a number inside a database. The bitcoin block chain was never affected. So sure you can create an "counterfeit" amount of any item/number inside a database. And nothing else was mentioned by the author.

"The hacker was able to create 2 million counterfeit BTC by manipulating the company's trading database ..."

In my opinion from an technical point of view this article claims no false facts and is correct.
The question for me is if it realy was happen in this way. But that makes me not calling the author an "idiot".

[Tasty Champa]

Doodz what the hell?

Did anyone actually read MT's press statement??
cuz this so-called journalist did not.
In fact we need a cease and desist on this idiot, right now.

They said, 2000 bitcoins, where lost by hacker that gained access to old owners account.
Mt Gox is absorbing this cost, and taking the loss.

How the fuck could anyone misinterpret that???

Could someone do us a favor and remove a journalists head from his own ass??

Good Job PC World, I am now deducting 10 IQ points from each of your readers.
That puts your readers somewhere around bananna...


This is what facebook and twitter does to people.
You lose all your memory and Just Start Making Shit Up!!!!!! HAHAHAHHA

[againey]

It's not counterfeiting.  It's just fractional reserve banking.  MtGox "loaned out" a million bitcoins that it didn't actually have.   

[Rob Lister]

If you have realy a little understanding how databases and bitcoins are working and assuming you read this article carefully and understand it you shouldn´t come to the conclusion the author is an idiot.
I am not an expert but in the database are no bitcoins stored. Only numbers that represents an accounts amount of bitcoin. If you "fake" or "counterfeight" this number you just change a number inside a database. The bitcoin block chain was never affected. So sure you can create an "counterfeit" amount of any item/number inside a database. And nothing else was mentioned by the author.

"The hacker was able to create 2 million counterfeit BTC by manipulating the company's trading database ..."

In my opinion from an technical point of view this article claims no false facts and is correct.
The question for me is if it realy was happen in this way. But that makes me not calling the author an "idiot".

there are three possibilities:

1) bitcoins were counterfeited
2) the author is intentionally misleading readers with the headline
3) the author is stupid

you decide which of the three is true.

[YoYa]

"The hacker was able to create 2 million counterfeit BTC by manipulating the company's trading database ..."

In my opinion from an technical point of view this article claims no false facts and is correct.
The question for me is if it realy was happen in this way. But that makes me not calling the author an "idiot".

So he takes the time to get the facts right and not be libel, but none the less uses the word counterfeit as the article headline.

Nice hack job.

[Oldminer]

You can't counterfeit Bitcoin