PIRATE BUSTED: Bullish or Bearish?

[Spekulatius]

http://www.sec.gov/News/PressRelease/Detail/PressRelease/1370539730583#.Ue663W1yz-C

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[ElectricMucus]

In the long run this doesn't change much.
But right now I'm ready for another epic sucker rally. 

[DavidBAL]

This is extremely bullish on multiple levels.

http://www.sec.gov/News/PressRelease/Detail/PressRelease/1370539730583#.Ue663W1yz-C

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[smoothie]

That took a while...

I'd say it is bullish if all the BTCs he had are now out of his possession and into the hands of many.

[thefiniteidea]

This is hilarious.

I wonder how (if even) the government will seize the assets... threats of prison?

I love Bitcoin drama :-D

[Chalkbot]

I don't think it matters if the coins come back or not. It's bullish in the sense that the SEC saw fit to get involved. If this was a WoW gold ponzi, the chances of that happening are highly unlikely, despite the fact that they are traded for dollars on the secondary market. This will work as an indirect endorsement for bitcoin legitimacy.

[DavidBAL]

I don't think it matters if the coins come back or not. It's bullish in the sense that the SEC saw fit to get involved. If this was a WoW gold ponzi, the chances of that happening are highly unlikely, despite the fact that they are traded for dollars on the secondary market. This will work as an indirect endorsement for bitcoin legitimacy.

Exactly.

[ElectricMucus]

It also reinforces the association by the public: Bitcoin that's a ponzi - now confirmed by the SEC.

[DavidBAL]

It also reinforces the association by the public: Bitcoin that's a ponzi - now confirmed by the SEC.

They didn't make that assertion, on the contrary they make it clear this was a specific entity operating on top of bitcoin.. just like madoff. They could have made that release sound much worse then they did.. instead they made it seem like they are going to be policing btc fraud.. which from a utility point of view is a huge value add..

[ElectricMucus]

It also reinforces the association by the public: Bitcoin that's a ponzi - now confirmed by the SEC.

They didn't make that assertion, on the contrary they make it clear this was a specific entity operating on top of bitcoin.. just like madoff. They could have made that release sound much worse then they did.. instead they made it seem like they are going to be policing btc fraud.. which from a utility point of view is a huge value add..

That doesn't stop CNBC from putting it that way, but we shall wait and see.

[Chalkbot]

It also reinforces the association by the public: Bitcoin that's a ponzi - now confirmed by the SEC.

Right, the public that can't seperate those two things in the news story. What kind of timeline to adoption do you think they were on prior to reading this? Any chance that they would try bitcoin before they encountered a situation in their life that required it? No way. This changes nothing for them, but you and I get a different message from this, and we (presumably) use bitcoin already. We create the opportunities and infastructure to support bitcoin, thus the moment in time when that general public becomes faced with needing bitcoin for something just got moved forward. It doesn't matter what they think.

[crumbs]

It also reinforces the association by the public: Bitcoin that's a ponzi - now confirmed by the SEC.

They didn't make that assertion, on the contrary they make it clear this was a specific entity operating on top of bitcoin.. just like madoff. They could have made that release sound much worse then they did.. instead they made it seem like they are going to be policing btc fraud.. which from a utility point of view is a huge value add..

That doesn't stop CNBC from putting it that way, but we shall wait and see.

Well, they released this: http://www.sec.gov/investor/alerts/ia_virtualcurrencies.pdf , not sure i'd count this as a seal of approval.  Guilt by association.

[Peter Lambert]

This gets more press and raises the awareness level of bitcoins, resulting in higher exchange rate as new people raise the total purchasing poser of bitcoins.

The government response is also positive toward bitcoin, they show that bitcoins themselves are a perfectly legal store of value, but it was the actions done with them that are subject to legal prosecution.

[yayayo]

I think it won't change a lot.

Most victims have long given up on the funds and it's unclear if they can be recovered at all.

Even if funds can be recovered it is by intervention of the state, which most bitcoiners do not seem to like.

ya.ya.yo!

[wachtwoord]

There are no assets left. This does not impact Bitcoin.

[Severian]

Who the hell was gullible enough to fall for Pirate@40 and give the Feds another excuse to screw with Bitcoin?

[wachtwoord]

Who the hell was gullible enough to fall for Pirate@40 and give the Feds another excuse to screw with Bitcoin?

I am

[Severian]

I am

Well, don't do it again.

[Kazu]

Its too soon to say. IT all depends on what the headlines are: "Bitcoin ponzi scheme revealed" (negative), "SEC begins policing bitcoin" (positive), "Bitcoin 'Madoff' caught by SEC" (semi-neutral).

[yayayo]

"Bitcoin 'Madoff' caught by SEC" (semi-neutral).

lol

Whatever "semi-neutral" means...

ya.ya.yo!