2013-08-04 WSJ: Famed Trader Joe Lewis Backs Bitcoin (hoax)

[dhenson]

Not good that a big-time thief like this guy is getting involved with mining. Mining is the way to control Bitcoin. Once you control the mining operation, you can do anything with Bitcoin you want. It not longer is beholden to limited supply or anything. They know this. Once the masses jump into Bitcoin and these mega douches control everything Bitcoin is over, it will be just another exploited currency. The problem is that we are still in their system of monetary control - i.e., they can buy up anything they want and that includes Bitcoin. The only time to strike is is when their system has collapsed.

You should look into why Yifu got into creating ASIC's in the first place.  His heart is in the right place, you don't have to worry about him exceeding 50%.

[Vigil]

I agree this looks fishy. Why would anybody put 200M into mining? Is that good or bad news? Do they want to destroy or support bitcoin? I mean maybe this is the amount it would really take to defend against attacks but it certainly is an amount that is enough to put all existing miners out of business and destroy the next 3 versions of a proof of work algo, too. I hope he is greedy and has not too much fiat to loose as then it would not make any sense to destroy Bitcoin.

Ok, so if he is greedy, why is the bitcoin price not sky high from him front-running his good news?

So if you want to invest 200M, why would you need Avalon? The only advantage I see is that even with 200M you wouldn't be able to ramp up production big scale 2 months from now. With Avalon, you can. Why hurry? Did somebody whisper in his ear that Flintheart Glomgold will go all in and he wants to be even faster?

His Zionist brotherhood is whispering into his ear. They have to control Bitcoin before it destroys their global banking scam. Yufu was discussing the problems with how the government can destroy/control bitcoin and then he makes a deal with the devil.

You should look into why Yifu got into creating ASIC's in the first place.  His heart is in the right place, you don't have to worry about him exceeding 50%.

It does not take that long to corrupt someone - especially when you are throwing $millions around - hundreds of $millions.

[vokain]

At $100/btc the entire mining industry only makes about $131 million a year.

In order to justify investing spending $200 million dollars in bitcoin mining these people must believe the price will go far higher then that.

Hopefully this will cause some more people to want to buy

200M to secure a confirmed portion of what might be the new financial backbone of the world? surrrre why not, got billions more

Perhaps the Paypal rumour for this month is true and this guy knows it. I feel like us little are guys are really not included in the real market happenings these days. It has moved up beyond us methinks.

you think bitcoin acquistions happen on the orderbooks? think again..

[julz]

yeah.. I'm taking a hedge on this news by depositing into btct.co and buy up some of the mining shares which are falling on the rumour. (e.g btcgarden now below IPO)

If the news is true... meh.. my bitcoins will probably be worth a *lot* more.  If false - which I suspect...  some cheap shares.
Either way

[Vigil]

What is the rumor?

[julz]

I see this whole news article as a 'rumour' at this point.  wsj or no.  Journalists get things wrong - and this story is lacking in any verifiable detail and fails the sniff test.

I could be wrong - I just 'doubt' it at this point.

I tend to agree with the skeptics in the reddit thread on this for now:  http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/1jpoec/famed_trader_joe_lewis_backs_bitcoin/

[bobdude17]

At $100/btc the entire mining industry only makes about $131 million a year.

In order to justify investing spending $200 million dollars in bitcoin mining these people must believe the price will go far higher then that.

Hopefully this will cause some more people to want to buy

200M to secure a confirmed portion of what might be the new financial backbone of the world? surrrre why not, got billions more

Perhaps the Paypal rumour for this month is true and this guy knows it. I feel like us little are guys are really not included in the real market happenings these days. It has moved up beyond us methinks.

you think bitcoin acquistions happen on the orderbooks? think again..

Yup yup. If this is true, and it's a huge credibility risk for the WSJ to write all that with no solid sources, then this really is the start of the goldrush.

[dexX7]

No way the WSJ would publish a story like this without checking everything out.

The media usually copies what is written somewhere else. I don't mean stealing news, but once it's out, it's out and spreads. I saw this many times.

Directly related to Bitcoin the WSJ did something similar even some days ago:

http://blogs.marketwatch.com/thetell/2013/07/29/bitcoin-now-illegal-in-thailand/?mod=MW_latest_news

MW is part of the WSJ Digital Network. In case you didn't know: Bitcoin isn't illegal in Thailand.

[vokain]

What is the rumor?

paypal?
http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/1jn974/imminent_paypal_to_accept_bitcoin_official/

[vokain]

No way the WSJ would publish a story like this without checking everything out.

The media usually copies what is written somewhere else. I don't mean stealing news, but once it's out, it's out and spreads. I saw something like this many times.

Directly related to Bitcoin the WSJ did something similar even some days ago:

http://blogs.marketwatch.com/thetell/2013/07/29/bitcoin-now-illegal-in-thailand/?mod=MW_latest_news

MW is part of the WSJ Digital Network. In case you didn't know: Bitcoin isn't illegal in Thailand.

THAT'S A BLOG, QUOTING ANOTHER BLOG

[bobdude17]

No way the WSJ would publish a story like this without checking everything out.

The media usually copies what is written somewhere else. I don't mean stealing news, but once it's out, it's out and spreads. I saw something like this many times.

Directly related to Bitcoin the WSJ did something similar even some days ago:

http://blogs.marketwatch.com/thetell/2013/07/29/bitcoin-now-illegal-in-thailand/?mod=MW_latest_news

MW is part of the WSJ Digital Network. In case you didn't know: Bitcoin isn't illegal in Thailand.

Possibly. But this is their bread and butter. Traders and markets.

[dexX7]

So what? This doesn't falsify my statement that media outlets do make errors not necessarily do proper fact checks.

[bobdude17]

So what? This doesn't falsify my statement that media outlets do make errors not necessarily do proper fact checks.

No, but it is to be expected that a published(paywall) article is likely to go through much more rigorous fact checking.

[julz]

So what? This doesn't falsify my statement that media outlets do make errors not necessarily do proper fact checks.

No, but it is to be expected that a published(paywall) article is likely to go through much more rigorous fact checking.

pfft. What about the reuters article on an eco-friendly car that 'runs on nothing but water'
http://www.reuters.com/video/2008/06/13/water-fuel-car-unveiled-in-japan?videoId=84561

This story was picked up by other mindless journalists around the world and parroted in 'respectable' publications.

A lot of Journalists lack basic high school level understanding of tech subjects - and crap slips through all the time.

[Vigil]

So what is your all s call? Real or BS?

[canuck]

No way the WSJ would publish a story like this without checking everything out.

The media usually copies what is written somewhere else. I don't mean stealing news, but once it's out, it's out and spreads. I saw something like this many times.

Directly related to Bitcoin the WSJ did something similar even some days ago:

http://blogs.marketwatch.com/thetell/2013/07/29/bitcoin-now-illegal-in-thailand/?mod=MW_latest_news

MW is part of the WSJ Digital Network. In case you didn't know: Bitcoin isn't illegal in Thailand.

THAT'S A BLOG, QUOTING ANOTHER BLOG

That's the market watch blog.  Market watch is owned by WSJ and their blog is treated like any other MSM news outlet.

What's really funny here is that people seem to think that journalists do thorough research on their stories.  They don't.  They may research their stories but thoroughly?  No.  They don't have the time to.  Maybe they did 20 years ago but today, one reporter is working on as many stories as 5 reporters did in years past.  Newsrooms all over the world have been shrinking as the traditional news media market has been disrupted by the new internet fuelled information age.  It used to be that a national news outlet could depend on a network of local reporters and field researchers to work their magic.  In other words, national outlets could parrot what was said by locals and be confident that it was well researched.  National news outlets still largely do that but the quality of research is much worse today because the workload is spread too thin.

A friend of mine is a radio news anchor.  Years ago in her line of work, she would be reading self written copy on stories that other reporters had prepared for her.  Wanna know who does all the phone calls, notes and on air copy now?  Yeah, she does.

Just because this is coming from a dead tree media outlet with a very notable pedigree does not mean it's gospel.  $200 Million sunk into a bitcoin ASIC chip maker?  Extremely limited fab plants producing cutting edge 20nm technology being used in a multi billion dollar markets being used in a multi-million dollar BTC ASIC market?  People...give your head a shake.  This story don't make sense.

"Hey you there.  Yeah, Global Foundries.  I know you spent anywhere from 4 to 7 billion dollars building your new 20nm fab and that your customers are multi billion dollar businesses who tie up your production lines but do you think you could set aside some of that fabricating space for my bitcoin ASIC chip?  Pretty please?"

ha

[somestranger]

So what is your all s call? Real or BS?

Smells like bullshit to me. I think the Bitcoin Examiner article is wrong and then WSJ just copied it and spruced it up a bit.

[josiasrdz]

It does not take that long to corrupt someone - especially when you are throwing $millions around - hundreds of $millions.

+1 I think I'am a good person, but selling my soul for 200 million dollars seems like a good deal

[solex]

This is the WSJ writer Harriet Agnew's twitter page

https://twitter.com/HarrietAgnew

Lots of activity in financial reporting. Would be real egg-on-face to have the wrong Avalon completely.


Edit: two earlier crypto pieces:

Harriet Agnew ‏@HarrietAgnew 5 Jul
@annairrera @tylerwinklevoss @winklevoss The crypto community is pumping up the next new thing: Litecoins http://bit.ly/16beDAD

 Harriet Agnew ‏@HarrietAgnew 5 Jul
Q&A with #Bitcoin backer @tylerwinklevoss:  http://bit.ly/1bbQaAI  @winklevoss
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[Vigil]

This is the WSJ writer Harriet Agnew's twitter page

https://twitter.com/HarrietAgnew

Lots of activity in financial reporting. Would be real egg-on-face to have the wrong Avalon completely.


Edit: two earlier crypto pieces:

Harriet Agnew ‏@HarrietAgnew 5 Jul
@annairrera @tylerwinklevoss @winklevoss The crypto community is pumping up the next new thing: Litecoins http://bit.ly/16beDAD

 Harriet Agnew ‏@HarrietAgnew 5 Jul
Q&A with #Bitcoin backer @tylerwinklevoss:  http://bit.ly/1bbQaAI  @winklevoss
Expand

Oh my god... someone beat that girl with an ugly stick.