Bitstamp: Should we be worried about it being shut down?

[flound1129]

I always avoided them simply because they were listed as being in Slovenia.

As it turns out to be, Slovenia is one of the most BTC friendly places, at the moment.

I'm not worried about BTC friendliness as much as being able to actually get my money back if they go belly up.

[OhShei8e]

Is there anything I missed? What do you guys think?

I'm really happy for anyone who has successfully disburse a loan via Bitstamp but I would have to be very desperate to trade with such an exchange.

IMHO it's just a matter of time until problems will occur. But unlike Mt. Gox you just do not know who is behind it. My advice: Just hoarding your Bitcoins until the situation has calmed down. And if you sell over Bitstamp, then quickly. But perhaps the platform will developed by time. Such as Poland, Slovenia is one of the most progressive countries in Eastern Europe. I do think that there can raise a functioning business. But of course ultimately depends on the people who run the business.

[OhShei8e]

Coinbase price is very close to Bitstamp and is headquartered in the US, so there is much more in the way of recourse if something goes wrong.

I would always prefer an exchange, which is located in my home country. This is certainly not a bad idea as long as you do not live in Somalia.

[qxzn]

unlike Mt. Gox you just do not know who is behind it.

On the contrary, I met several of the Bitstamp guys, including CEO Nejc Kodric, at the San Jose conference. I'm not at all worried about them running off with my money. The only concern I would have is the same as I have with any bitcoin exchange; namely, that some ignorant government somewhere freezes the funds.

[zeroblock]

unlike Mt. Gox you just do not know who is behind it.

On the contrary, I met several of the Bitstamp guys, including CEO Nejc Kodric, at the San Jose conference. I'm not at all worried about them running off with my money. The only concern I would have is the same as I have with any bitcoin exchange; namely, that some ignorant government somewhere freezes the funds.

Its OhShei8e spreading lies over and over again.  The Bitstamp guys are pretty well known, and are much more visible than Gox's wonderfully transparent CEO karpeles.

[ucai6ohz]

Its OhShei8e spreading lies over and over again.  The Bitstamp guys are pretty well known, and are much more visible than Gox's wonderfully transparent CEO karpeles.

Stop to accuse others of lying! I do not know anyone from Bitstamp. That is a fact. But it's interesting to hear other opinions. If people have meet people of Bitstamp I think it's great. I've never been to such a conference. :-/

Karpeles is one of the good guys. I've only seen him on YouTube, but I trust him immediately. He's a nerd.

[zeroblock]

Its OhShei8e spreading lies over and over again.  The Bitstamp guys are pretty well known, and are much more visible than Gox's wonderfully transparent CEO karpeles.

Stop to accuse others of lying! I do not know anyone from Bitstamp. That is a fact. But it's interesting to hear other opinions. If people have meet people of Bitstamp I think it's great. I've never been to such a conference. :-/

Karpeles is one of the good guys. I've only seen him on YouTube, but I trust him immediately. He's a nerd.

Bitstamp was at Bitcoin 2013 and other conferences.  When was the last time you saw anyone from Mt.Gox at a conference?  The answer is never. 

Oh ya regarding Karpeles, you mean the guy who sits on an exercise ball during his interview and uses Clark Moody to look up the price of Bitcoin on his own exchange? Brilliant.

http://www.reuters.com/video/2013/04/23/an-exclusive-peek-into-the-worlds-bigges?videoId=242413486

[OhShei8e]

Oh ya regarding Karpeles, you mean the guy who sits on an exercise ball during his interview and uses Clark Moody to look up the price of Bitcoin on his own exchange? Brilliant.

http://www.reuters.com/video/2013/04/23/an-exclusive-peek-into-the-worlds-bigges?videoId=242413486

Yes, and he stutters a bit. Hilarious. 

As well, there is no video of Satoshi Nakamoto. 

[dave111223]

Oh ya regarding Karpeles, you mean the guy who sits on an exercise ball during his interview

If I ever do a Bitcoin interview I've got to think of a way to out-do the exercise ball.  Maybe do the interview sat on a potty, or one of those cars shriners drive in parades

[qxzn]

and uses Clark Moody to look up the price of Bitcoin on his own exchange? Brilliant.

I see nothing wrong with Mark using Clark Moody to lookup the price of bitcoin on Gox.

[zeroblock]

and uses Clark Moody to look up the price of Bitcoin on his own exchange? Brilliant.

I see nothing wrong with Mark using Clark Moody to lookup the price of bitcoin on Gox.

It's appalling.  The CEO of an exchange doesn't use his own exchange's website to look up the price of Bitcoin. Just look at the current 20% spread between Gox and Bitstamp as an indicator of the trust that Gox users have for him.  

[BitCoiner2012]

What "unauthorized" exchanges are being shutdown?

[tclo]

Yes I am always worried about Bitstamp getting shut down too and my funds in there frozen. I use it to trade Ripple XRP, so I need to keep at least a couple thousand USD in there and would not want to lose it. 

I could convert it all to BTC every day and move it out of there and then back, but that isn't practical much of the time, especially when a trade opportunity pops up that you need to take advantage of immediately.

But we know nothing about the Slovenia gov't and they could just want to get in good with the USA gov't and do what they are told.  The USA gov't hates bitcoin and that is my main worry with Bitstamp.

[tinus42]

I always avoided them simply because they were listed as being in Slovenia.

As it turns out to be, Slovenia is one of the most BTC friendly places, at the moment.

Slovenia is also likely the next place that goes Cyprus. i wouldn't want to keep much money at a Slovenian bank.

[EuroTrash]

I always avoided them simply because they were listed as being in Slovenia.

As it turns out to be, Slovenia is one of the most BTC friendly places, at the moment.

Slovenia is also likely the next place that goes Cyprus. i wouldn't want to keep much money at a Slovenian bank.

As already said in this forum, BitStamp's bank is not Slovenian although it operates in Slovenia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UniCredit

UniCredit is a large Italian bank partly owned by German investors. It is less likely to fail than a  local Slovenian bank.

[Spaceman_Spiff]

Can anyone recommend a (somewhat) safe alternative to bitstamp and gox?  
I want to spread my 'broke/shutdown/scammer' risks somewhat.  Slippage isn't an issue as I am only krill to the whales.

[johnyj]

Bitstamp was down several times today, soon it will experience all the issues that mtgox had, just 6 months later

[prophetx]

I always avoided them simply because they were listed as being in Slovenia.

As it turns out to be, Slovenia is one of the most BTC friendly places, at the moment.

Slovenia is also likely the next place that goes Cyprus. i wouldn't want to keep much money at a Slovenian bank.

As already said in this forum, BitStamp's bank is not Slovenian although it operates in Slovenia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UniCredit

UniCredit is a large Italian bank partly owned by German investors. It is less likely to fail than a  local Slovenian bank.

it does not matter ... if the ECB forces depositors to take a write down, you and anyone else with funds in a bank operating in slovenia will take a hit...