I wouldn't worry about bitcoin. MtGox has been sidelined for quite some time for the most part, though was still big enough to send these waves out by its total meltdown. Just last week the first Bitcoin ATM in the US opened in Boston's South Station, and more are coming down the pipes for a few cities around the country, including Austin and Seattle, among others.
Buying right about now would probably be a pretty good idea if you've got some money to gamble with.
The concern isn't directly about the currency Bitcoin.
The concern is that MtGOX was considered a relatively safe place to place your Bitcoins. Many people on/. would defend them when the jabs about how it start out as a card trading site were common.
If you can't trust MtGOX and don't trust yourself (how many people lost information due to incomplete backups at the time of a computer crash?), who do you trust?
At least for US Dollars and other country-based currencies you can keep them in a bank and have FDIC insurance for the first $200K or so. Who would insure an account at a bank in Bitcoins?
(Score: 5, Informative) by cykros on Tuesday February 25 2014, @06:09PM
I wouldn't worry about bitcoin. MtGox has been sidelined for quite some time for the most part, though was still big enough to send these waves out by its total meltdown. Just last week the first Bitcoin ATM in the US opened in Boston's South Station, and more are coming down the pipes for a few cities around the country, including Austin and Seattle, among others.
Buying right about now would probably be a pretty good idea if you've got some money to gamble with.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by mmcmonster on Tuesday February 25 2014, @08:26PM
The concern isn't directly about the currency Bitcoin.
The concern is that MtGOX was considered a relatively safe place to place your Bitcoins. Many people on /. would defend them when the jabs about how it start out as a card trading site were common.
If you can't trust MtGOX and don't trust yourself (how many people lost information due to incomplete backups at the time of a computer crash?), who do you trust?
At least for US Dollars and other country-based currencies you can keep them in a bank and have FDIC insurance for the first $200K or so. Who would insure an account at a bank in Bitcoins?
(Score: 2) by VLM on Tuesday February 25 2014, @09:01PM
"The concern is that MtGOX was considered a relatively safe place to place your Bitcoins"
What? You mean, like, roughly pre-2011?
(Score: 1) by basecase on Wednesday February 26 2014, @02:16AM
Bitcoin insurance. I'll be a millionaire!
(Score: 1) by Mykl on Wednesday February 26 2014, @05:16AM
Actually, I'm surprised that someone on Wall St didn't come up with this, then purchase a bunch of it themselves!
Just like the pre-GFC Naked Credit Default Swaps, someone could have made a mint out of this crash:N aked_credit_default_swaps [wikipedia.org]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit_default_swap#
Ahhh, unbridled capitalism...