[2014-06-27] The Bitcoin Economy's 'Backbone' Is Bitstamp, An Exchange Run By Tw

[erono]

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2014/06/26/bitcoin-bitstamp/

The exchanges have historically been regarded as mysterious and, well, weird. Slovenia? Yet even after Tokyo-based Mt. Gox’s crash-and-burn, serious Bitcoin businesses and traders can’t stay away from foreign exchanges; they still need digital money changers and the European exchanges are the main USD players. The three European exchanges have historically been press-shy. Bitfinex’s founder keeps his remarks to Reddit. The BTC-e crew has stayed anonymous while rumors swirl that they are actually based in Russia, where Bitcoin is illegal. But the two twenty-something founders behind Bitstamp, Nejc Kodrič and Damian Merlak, are increasingly opening up. They’ve attended Bitcoin events, collected a “best virtual currency startup” award at a European tech conference, and spent an hour with me on Skype talking about what it was like to discover Bitcoin and suddenly become two of the richest people in Slovenia.

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[Chef Ramsay]

Go figure that Slovenia, a place that most have never heard of, houses the heavyweight in the Bitcoin world so far.

[Ron~Popeil]

I think it is in the best interest of exchange operators to remain somewhat anonymous. There are a lot of criminals that would love to get their hands on someone that has access to large cold wallets.

[prelsidente]

They are smart guys who have shown several times they know how to run their business, not like Karpeles.

I'm sure they save their keys in secure locations where even they couldn't get easily. Hopefully with multisig.

I'm not that smart and even I would do that.

[jbrnt]

Exchanges are setup in foreign "weird" places because the "non-weird" places usually have too many regulations. Enterpreneurs in the US or Europe would have to jump through so many hoops to get a licensed crypto exchange running, it would be easier to partner with others in foreign less regulation countries.

Times are changing. I think regulators in developed countries are more open to cryptos. Bitcoin are now classified as a taxable commodity. Exchanges are allowed to operate as long as they comply with regulations. This is a good sign. That means these exchanges are run properly with financial audits, our money should be better protected.

[dave111223]

They are smart guys who have shown several times they know how to run their business, not like Karpeles.

I'm sure they save their keys in secure locations where even they couldn't get easily. Hopefully with multisig.

I'm not that smart and even I would do that.

However they are not using multisig (as per their audit) so not that secure....means that gun to the head of the right single person could potentially gain you the entire cold wallet.

[Este Nuno]

They are smart guys who have shown several times they know how to run their business, not like Karpeles.

I'm sure they save their keys in secure locations where even they couldn't get easily. Hopefully with multisig.

I'm not that smart and even I would do that.

However they are not using multisig (as per their audit) so not that secure....means that gun to the head of the right single person could potentially gain you the entire cold wallet.

People should take this potential situation much more seriously than they currently do. And not just exchange owners. With the amount of money we're talking about here at stake now this is something that is inevitable. There's no way around it. People will be robbed this way eventually.

[notthematrix]

They are smart guys who have shown several times they know how to run their business, not like Karpeles.

I'm sure they save their keys in secure locations where even they couldn't get easily. Hopefully with multisig.

I'm not that smart and even I would do that.

However they are not using multisig (as per their audit) so not that secure....means that gun to the head of the right single person could potentially gain you the entire cold wallet.

People should take this potential situation much more seriously than they currently do. And not just exchange owners. With the amount of money we're talking about here at stake now this is something that is inevitable. There's no way around it. People will be robbed this way eventually.

Btc-e And bitstamp probably have bougth a banking lisence and are now above the law
its that simple welcome in  the wonderfull world of offshore banking http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4o13isDdfY
they are perfectly legal under WTO  Treaties (above any national law) no need to wory bitcoin jezus did the same.
This is exactly why regulation on bitcoin will NEVER work http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgEDOBgYg-g&feature=share
the US simply lost its chance her.