Gold collapsing. Bitcoin UP.

[cypherdoc]

http://newsbtc.com/2015/02/19/independent-investigators-find-fresh-details-mt-gox/

Interesting:

"Another interesting fact that caught Wizsec’s eyes was the Willy’s static nature during the Japanese sleeping hours. The Mt. Gox bot was supposed to be automatic, but as it turns out there was hardly any trading activity. This speculation multiplied the belief that the bot was actually being controlled manually — probably by Mark Karpeles."

http://hackingdistributed.com/2014/05/27/mtgox-willy-markus/

I follow this guy on twitter and I admire him, but the article doesn't make much sense:

"For a pump and dump, there has to be a quick pump (buy action) to generate mass momentum, followed by a dump.
In this case, there was no quick pump; the buy orders were deliberately smeared across a very long time period. And there was no dump until the very end stage.
It's as simple as that. No fast pump, no dump, therefore not a pump and dump."

^^^What? This is false. A pump&dump doesn't have to be executed quickly to be a pump&dump, unless we are talking half a year to a year. The $1200 pump lasted two to three months. 2-3 months is a small time frame for a pump of that magnitude.

Large buys like those WILL have a BIG impact on the price, whether made in smaller chunks or not (impossible to buy that quantity of coins in a few market buys, literally impossible).


Also, is the author completely ignoring the fact that one of the mtgox bots (markus I believe) was buying with FAKE FIAT (amounts of money mtgox didn't actually have)? He didn't mention that.
Markus bought a gigantic quantity of BTC basically for free and Emin argues that that doesn't indicate any fraudulent activity?

you don't know it was FAKE FIAT.

gox could've been buying on behalf of a large whale.  plus, volumes on Chinese exchanges were large at the time.

What about all the bots shorting the market now with FAKE BITCOIN. 

I don't really believe in market manipulation on a wide scale, especially since we have a publicly verifiable blockchain, but it could be happening.

yes, it could be.  i'm suspicious of BitFinex.  an audit of them would be worthwhile.

i'd love for naked shorts to be caught with their pants down, if it is occurring, and watch them scramble for a bailout in fiat.

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[cypherdoc]

you don't know it was FAKE FIAT.

gox could've been buying on behalf of a large whale.  plus, volumes on Chinese exchanges were large at the time.

Yeah, buying when trading was closed, great way to give the whales a good price.  

Between your hypothesis and Karpeles trying to make a quick buck even while he ruined Bitcoin for years, my gut makes a clear choice.

that's not my hypothesis.  it's just a possibility i'm pointing out to counterbalance what NHJT said.

no doubt shady shit was going on, which is precisely why i tell ppl it would've been almost impossible to cash out at the top unless you had insider connections since getting fiat out of gox was next to impossible at the time and for sure extremely risky.  when i queried MK on IRC at the time when we touched gold @1200 about his ability to wire USD as there were delays, he tried to lure me into sending BTC for this purpose by telling me he might do me a special favor.  i lol'd and never did as that was a huge red flag and something to be avoided given all the delays everyone else was having.

[jsuder]

Thanks for the clarification. This is tough for me. On one hand, I absolutely think solid wallet software should be on as many platforms as possible. But on the other hand, if the company (or even just the brand) backing that wallet has what I consider a fundamentally destructive attitude (and even outright objective, as Wendell's quote is pretty aggressive/vehement), the negatives of such a brand gaining more traction probably outweigh the positives.

In any event, I do appreciate you making the distinction (both here and on Reddit) between your project and views, and Hive as a company. Perhaps you'd consider re-branding away from Hive?

That's a nuclear option that will always be on the table, to be used when the disadvantages start outnumbering the advantages, but I'm not there yet.

[cypherdoc]

somehow we have to pin this on Bitcoin:

If past HSBC transgressions are any indication, the amount of corrupted cash flowing through U.S. financial institutions could be absolutely startling. The aforementioned 2013 Senate report noted that HSBC allowed over $200 trillion in wire transfers to enter the U.S. unmonitored over a three-year period, including $670 billion in wire transfers from Mexico and at least $881 million in laundered money from Mexican and Columbian drug traffickers. In December 2012, HSBC agreed to pay a $1.92 billion settlement to federal and state authorities for failing to maintain an adequate AML program.

http://www.americanbanker.com/bankthink/beneficial-ownership-rules-would-drag-criminals-into-daylight-1072763-1.html#comments

[Bagatell]

somehow we have to pin this on Bitcoin:

The supernintendo is working on it, with them..whatever.

[cypherdoc]

molecular:

can the Trezor ppl see our balances and tx's while the Trezor is logged into myTrezor.com?

[marcus_of_augustus]

somehow we have to pin this on Bitcoin:

If past HSBC transgressions are any indication, the amount of corrupted cash flowing through U.S. financial institutions could be absolutely startling. The aforementioned 2013 Senate report noted that HSBC allowed over $200 trillion in wire transfers to enter the U.S. unmonitored over a three-year period, including $670 billion in wire transfers from Mexico and at least $881 million in laundered money from Mexican and Columbian drug traffickers. In December 2012, HSBC agreed to pay a $1.92 billion settlement to federal and state authorities for failing to maintain an adequate AML program.

http://www.americanbanker.com/bankthink/beneficial-ownership-rules-would-drag-criminals-into-daylight-1072763-1.html#comments

... this is the kind of money that will inevitably start coursing through bitcoins veins in the not too distant future.

[thezerg]

somehow we have to pin this on Bitcoin:

If past HSBC transgressions are any indication, the amount of corrupted cash flowing through U.S. financial institutions could be absolutely startling. The aforementioned 2013 Senate report noted that HSBC allowed over $200 trillion in wire transfers to enter the U.S. unmonitored over a three-year period, including $670 billion in wire transfers from Mexico and at least $881 million in laundered money from Mexican and Columbian drug traffickers. In December 2012, HSBC agreed to pay a $1.92 billion settlement to federal and state authorities for failing to maintain an adequate AML program.

http://www.americanbanker.com/bankthink/beneficial-ownership-rules-would-drag-criminals-into-daylight-1072763-1.html#comments

Yes, for many of us its not that we are against regulation; if there was a magic oracle that correctly flagged money transfers that occur for illegal purposes then ok let's use it.  But the reality is that regulation simply sets the bar higher, encouraging the formation of organizations that can pay big bribes, hire smart lawyers, money managers, etc.  In other words, cartels.  Better to have no money laundering regulation than a fantasy situation that only inconveniences honest people/businesses.  People and businesses whose profit margins are much smaller so they can't purchase the money managers and lawyers required to deal with the regs.

you don't know it was FAKE FIAT.

gox could've been buying on behalf of a large whale.  plus, volumes on Chinese exchanges were large at the time.

Yeah, buying when trading was closed, great way to give the whales a good price. 

Between your hypothesis and Karpeles trying to make a quick buck even while he ruined Bitcoin for years, my gut makes a clear choice.

that's not my hypothesis.  it's just a possibility i'm pointing out to counterbalance what NHJT said.

no doubt shady shit was going on, which is precisely why i tell ppl it would've been almost impossible to cash out at the top unless you had insider connections since getting fiat out of gox was next to impossible at the time and for sure extremely risky.  when i queried MK on IRC at the time when we touched gold @1200 about his ability to wire USD as there were delays, he tried to lure me into sending BTC for this purpose by telling me he might do me a special favor.  i lol'd and never did as that was a huge red flag and something to be avoided given all the delays everyone else was having.

Yes, in retrospect we didn't touch gold.  ~1050 was the highest price you could cash out at (bitstamp).

[Odalv]

molecular:

can the Trezor ppl see our balances and tx's while the Trezor is logged into myTrezor.com?

Everything is possible.

[rocks]

somehow we have to pin this on Bitcoin:

If past HSBC transgressions are any indication, the amount of corrupted cash flowing through U.S. financial institutions could be absolutely startling. The aforementioned 2013 Senate report noted that HSBC allowed over $200 trillion in wire transfers to enter the U.S. unmonitored over a three-year period, including $670 billion in wire transfers from Mexico and at least $881 million in laundered money from Mexican and Columbian drug traffickers. In December 2012, HSBC agreed to pay a $1.92 billion settlement to federal and state authorities for failing to maintain an adequate AML program.

http://www.americanbanker.com/bankthink/beneficial-ownership-rules-would-drag-criminals-into-daylight-1072763-1.html#comments

Yes, for many of us its not that we are against regulation; if there was a magic oracle that correctly flagged money transfers that occur for illegal purposes then ok let's use it.  But the reality is that regulation simply sets the bar higher, encouraging the formation of organizations that can pay big bribes, hire smart lawyers, money managers, etc.  In other words, cartels.  Better to have no money laundering regulation than a fantasy situation that only inconveniences honest people/businesses.  People and businesses whose profit margins are much smaller so they can't purchase the money managers and lawyers required to deal with the regs.

It is the exact same in any industry, not just financials. Regulation always leads to a cozy relationship between regulators and industry that results in industry consolidation to a few large entities (i.e. an oligopoly) that transforms into a protection mechanism for established companies to build a regulatory moat and protect their interests.

In some sense modern regulation looks very similar to the various merchant and craft guilds from medieval times. Merchant guilds worked with feudal lords (the government) to establish regulations over market activity and tax smaller members, over time they became quite powerful in their own right. It's exactly what we have today.

[molecular]

molecular:

can the Trezor ppl see our balances and tx's while the Trezor is logged into myTrezor.com?

yes, unfortunately. At least they're not using your xpub key to transfer addresses to watch, so they don't know your future keys (except the 5 or so per account they scan ahead).

That's my biggest criticism with myTrezor and it's why I switched to electrum as soon as the development code had trezor working. It's not perfect with electrum, either, but better (I don't know exactly what, but they do some stuff to increase privacy towards server operators).

I went to the hassle of running my own electrum server (public, of course, so I can hide in the masses when broadcasting transactions). Feel free to use it (electrum.0x0000.de), I'm not logging anything or looking at the traffic in any way.

[Odalv]

molecular:

can the Trezor ppl see our balances and tx's while the Trezor is logged into myTrezor.com?

yes, unfortunately. At least they're not using your xpub key to transfer addresses to watch, so they don't know your future keys (except the 5 or so per account they scan ahead).

That's my biggest criticism with myTrezor and it's why I switched to electrum as soon as the development code had trezor working. It's not perfect with electrum, either, but better (I don't know exactly what, but they do some stuff to increase privacy towards server operators).

I went to the hassle of running my own electrum server (public, of course, so I can hide in the masses when broadcasting transactions). Feel free to use it (electrum.0x0000.de), I'm not logging anything or looking at the traffic in any way.

Cypherdoc, you can trust him. :-)

Edit:
If you are not logging the traffic and analyzing it then it is only a question of time when you will be hacked.

[cypherdoc]

molecular:

can the Trezor ppl see our balances and tx's while the Trezor is logged into myTrezor.com?

yes, unfortunately. At least they're not using your xpub key to transfer addresses to watch, so they don't know your future keys (except the 5 or so per account they scan ahead).

you mean xpub key as it applies to an HD wallet (master public key)?  what do you mean "except the 5 or so per account they scan ahead"?

That's my biggest criticism with myTrezor and it's why I switched to electrum as soon as the development code had trezor working. It's not perfect with electrum, either, but better (I don't know exactly what, but they do some stuff to increase privacy towards server operators).

why would electrum be better in terms of privacy?

I went to the hassle of running my own electrum server (public, of course, so I can hide in the masses when broadcasting transactions). Feel free to use it (electrum.0x0000.de), I'm not logging anything or looking at the traffic in any way.

how does one use electrum with the Trezor?

[cypherdoc]

somehow we have to pin this on Bitcoin:

If past HSBC transgressions are any indication, the amount of corrupted cash flowing through U.S. financial institutions could be absolutely startling. The aforementioned 2013 Senate report noted that HSBC allowed over $200 trillion in wire transfers to enter the U.S. unmonitored over a three-year period, including $670 billion in wire transfers from Mexico and at least $881 million in laundered money from Mexican and Columbian drug traffickers. In December 2012, HSBC agreed to pay a $1.92 billion settlement to federal and state authorities for failing to maintain an adequate AML program.

http://www.americanbanker.com/bankthink/beneficial-ownership-rules-would-drag-criminals-into-daylight-1072763-1.html#comments

... this is the kind of money that will inevitably start coursing through bitcoins veins in the not too distant future.

that's a great image.

[cypherdoc]

crimony.  what a nightmare:

The U.S. and British intelligence agencies pulled off the encryption key heist in great stealth, giving them the ability to intercept and decrypt communications without alerting the wireless network provider, the foreign government or the individual user that they have been targeted. “Gaining access to a database of keys is pretty much game over for cellular encryption,” says Matthew Green, a cryptography specialist at the Johns Hopkins Information Security Institute. The massive key theft is “bad news for phone security. Really bad news.”

https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/02/19/great-sim-heist/

[o0‡0o]

somehow we have to pin this on Bitcoin:

If past HSBC transgressions are any indication, the amount of corrupted cash flowing through U.S. financial institutions could be absolutely startling. The aforementioned 2013 Senate report noted that HSBC allowed over $200 trillion in wire transfers to enter the U.S. unmonitored over a three-year period, including $670 billion in wire transfers from Mexico and at least $881 million in laundered money from Mexican and Columbian drug traffickers. In December 2012, HSBC agreed to pay a $1.92 billion settlement to federal and state authorities for failing to maintain an adequate AML program.

http://www.americanbanker.com/bankthink/beneficial-ownership-rules-would-drag-criminals-into-daylight-1072763-1.html#comments

The banks chairman when this all happened resigned as soon as the shit hit the fan and then became the trade minister for UK.

Hsbc (Britain biggest bank and words 2nd biggest ) was fined 4 weeks profit (1.9 billion) for:
* laundering 9 billion dollars for mexican and columbian drug gangs,  Russian gangs
* having 50,000 client accounts and £2.1bn in holdings, but had no staff or offices in cayman island branch
* 25,000 transactions involving Iran worth over $19billion (£12billion) through HBUS and other US accounts, while concealing any link with Iran
* evade sanctions for Libya, Sudan, north Korea, Cuba, Myanmar,
* dealing with Al Rajhi Bank, which the report said has links to financing terrorism.
* aided countless common tax cheats in hiding their cash

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/gangster-bankers-too-big-to-jail-20130214#ixzz3SEkGyUVa


 Also straight afterwards the UK started work on changing the law to have US style "deferred prosecution agreements" in place. In practice is nothing else as 2 different laws for the same crime. If you commit it as a company you buy bribe your way out of it, as private person to get jail time.
http://www.sfo.gov.uk/about-us/our-policies-and-publications/deferred-prosecution-agreements-code-of-practice-and-consultation-response.aspx

[rocks]

Did you guys see the Lenovo blow up today, this is on the order of Sony's rootkit fiasco.

Lenovo PCs ship with man-in-the-middle adware that breaks HTTPS connections
http://arstechnica.com/security/2015/02/lenovo-pcs-ship-with-man-in-the-middle-adware-that-breaks-https-connections/

At least with Lenovo I can choose not to deal with them. However when it comes to money I have to deal with FED dollars and banks like HSBC. Oh wait, no I don't  

[cypherdoc]

with all this unbelievable invasion of privacy and outright disregard for constitutional rights, one HAS to believe there is a future for Bitcoin.

[tabnloz]

with all this unbelievable invasion of privacy and outright disregard for constitutional rights, one HAS to believe there is a future for Bitcoin.

It makes me wonder why the Laura Poitras doco about Snowden has not exploded. Perhaps the general view of Snowden in the US is still of him as an traitor to the country? But surely this SIM card corruption & Lenovo scandal will be the tipping point, as at this stage it is almost obvious to assume virtually no private information exchange is not being monitored.......Maybe the combination this, the SR coins almost being all sold off and the MSM changing its btc skepticism will leave enough of an opening for the market to move up.

It will be cool to look back and identify 'the point' at which it becomes clear that btc is here to stay.

[cypherdoc]

Gold Collapsing. Bitcoin bottoming.

this time gold got a punch again. If that is BTC-positive, that is another question.

I think we're getting our answer; UP.