What a horrible day for bitcoin.
Guess I just have to keep holding, as I wasn't among the lucky few who happened to be sitting at their computers with their finger hovered over the "Sell" button the instant this news was - unconscionably - posted on the bitfunder page.
It's not at all a horrible day for Bitcoin. It's a horrible day for people who put their money and their trust in play exchanges. It's a great day for Bitcoin, and every day that involves the destruction of something that does not work will be just such a great day.
Allow me to shed some light on the matter. Bullshit non-companies imagining they're "involved in BTC" have been taking advantage of bullshit non-exchanges imagining they're "innovating in BTC finance" even before MPEx was established. Unlike MPEx, those non-exchanges and a fair amount of non-businesses have crumbled. Spectacularly, and with about as much fallout as you'd expect from the implosion of bullshit scaffolding built ever and ever higher around the coins of those who don't know better or simply don't care 'til the money's gone.
I've been here, pointing this out, repeatedly.
Nefario: You are obviously unqualified to be anywhere near a project of the complexity of an exchange, even for play money (which I suspect BTC are, for most of you here, at least judging on behavior records). I will make you precisely one offer to buy the thing from you, so you get to actually make some money for all your effort over the past year, as misguided and mismanaged as it may have been, rather than have to walk away from a worthless wreck (like Zou Thong/Amir&co have with Bitcoinica). If you have half the maturity you should have to be involved in all this you will take this offer seriously, and consider your options carefully. Feel free to make contact via pm or in #bitcoin-otc-eu.
It was said before, it will need (apparently) to be said again:
GLBSE is a bad choice for security and other reasons.
We
were hearing rumours for months that Pirate has in fact defaulted but the dummies that he had for "investors" were just letting it slide. We were hearing rumous for months that the passthroughs are only a convenient way to allow the scammer to pay some of the "inner circle" interest with fresh money from small timers who will never be repaid and can never do anything about it.
By puncturing the circle of bullshit Bitlane did the community a big favour. The perpetrators of the passthrough scams however have a lot to answer for. And so does the
Global Scam Exchange that allowed all this to happen.
Comparing yourself to shit does not make yourself look more attractive. Maybe you want to consider how to compare yourself to your current competitors instead of a failed operation from the past?
There are no current competitors. There's MPEx, and there's various attempts to recreate GLBSE. These compete among themselves for the "most-GLBSE alike" title, and when they don't do that they negotiate to reunite into one single unity of fail, thus actually recreating their model.
Outside of that pretend competition (as you can't really compete when there's no actual difference) there's no such thing as competition going on in BTC finance land: the play exchanges and MPEx couldn't compete if they wanted to, as they serve entirely disjunct markets. The random noob that started this thread for his literary-financial & fiducial new media etc project being a convenient point in case.
I suppose at most you could say the competition is cultural, in the sense of sanity trying to compete with firm conviction. That's
hardly any sort of competition either.
Every time a play exchange folds, or it's no longer possible to cover one's ears and pretend their major, gaping flaws aren't flaws, forumites and others who haven't yet realized that actual BTC finance happens
on IRC panic in search of some easily recognizable replacement, whether it's another bullshit non-exchange, or whether it's a
similarly broken idea riding on the wings of some dev concept.
As you
somehow might not expect, though you should, these palliative measures aimed at making everything okay again for bullshit non-companies only ever repeat the cycle.
What the hell happened?
Was GLBSE the biggest ponzi scheme of all?
https://glbse.com/GLBSE has been closed
I'm sorry to inform all our users that GLBSE is no longer able to continue operating, and has now closed.
Q: What does this mean if I'm an issuer?
We will do everything in our power to make the process of moving off GLBSE as smooth as possible, we are currently working on a simple, safe, and easy to use method that will allow you to continue your relationship with your asset holders
Q:I'm a GLBSE user, what about my assets and my bitcoin?
You will be able to get back your bitcoin, and if you want to reveal your username, email, and a bitcoin address to accept payments with, you can continue your relationship with the issuer of any assets you hold.
We will begin retuning bitcoin once we have recieved all coins from the GLBSE treasurer that manages the GLBSE cash reserves. BitcoinGlobal (GLBSE's partent company) shareholders and board voted for them to be returned immediately, we are awaiting compliance with this order.
Wow. Who saw this coming? Think we will get all of our BTC back?
Somewhat shocked that's it's just shutting down like this.
I don't understand what happens to existing assets? I'm holding some that are not on any other exchanges..? Fuck what a shit-show.
The solution to all of this is not packaging up "the community"'s collective cluelessness and sending it off to Nanny Gov so that a hand much harder, meaner, and indiscriminate than mine can smack people every time they put money and thoughtless cheering into bullshit.
GPG contracts.
Security that isn't based on the limitations of a "slick" website.
Actual IPOs from actually planned out,
accountable entities. Yes, there's a fee. You're paying for that which works, which in the end is all that's worth paying for. No, I'm not especially nice in that In-N-Out Burger sort of way (though I'm just PR, you don't have to deal with me at all to use the exchange). The lies, the sugar-coating, the beating around the bush, is exactly for cheap food service and has no place in BTC finance. Plenty of people have thrown a fit over these facts, I'm sure plenty of people will continue to do so, and will continue to lose their money. MPEx will be right here.
It sucks that people are out BTC, or are facing losses wholly unrelated to their "trading" choices. At some point though you've got to stop using junk, pay attention, and either get in the actual game or wait until you're informed and confident enough to come on in.
