Mt. Gox Disappears! Is Bitcoin Finished?

The bitcoin logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Late Monday, the Bitcoin-trading site Mt. Gox went dark, leaving everyone questioning the future of the virtual currency. There have been reports of a security breach, compromising over $300 million dollars from investors. Annie reports on this news, and what it means for the future of Bitcoin.

Read More:
LulzSec Rogue Suspected of Bitcoin Hack
http://www.theguardian.com/technology...
"More than $9m of online currency was stolen in weekend attack on Bitcoin currency exchange that could cost members of Anonymous and LulzSec thousands of dollars each."

Feds Seized $2.9M in Bitcoin Funds From Mt. Gox, Court Docs Show
http://gigaom.com/2013/08/19/feds-sei...
"The federal government sent a strong signal to Bitcoin traders earlier this year when the U.S. Department of Homeland Security seized an account belonging to Mt. Gox, the most popular exchange for people to buy and sell the crypto-currency. It was unclear at the time just how much currency the government confiscated."

Bitcoin Fails Finland's Money Test, Judged Commodity
http://www.vancouversun.com/business/...
"Bitcoin doesn't meet the definition of a currency or even an electronic payment form in Finland, where the central bank has instead decided to categorize the software as a commodity."

Latest Instance of Pony Botnet Pilfers $200k, 700k Credentials
http://threatpost.com/latest-instance...
"Attackers leveraged a Pony botnet controller to not only siphon away a large batch of account credentials but also to make off with over $200,000 in Bitcoin and other virtual currencies over a four month span, according to researchers this week."

Authorities See Worth of Bitcoin
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/S...
"Senior U.S. law-enforcement and regulatory officials said they see benefits in digital forms of money and are making progress in tackling its risks."

Bitcoin ATMs Landing In The US
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-5761...
"Robocoin's bitcoin ATMs are hitting the United States later this month, Reuters reported Tuesday."

Bitcoin Currency Inspires Tulip Mania Comparisons
http://news.discovery.com/history/bit...
"Unlike dollar bills, gold bars or your friend's mint-condition Beanie Babies, bitcoin is a decentralized digital currency that doesn't exist in any tangible form."

Tulip Mania
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulip_mania
"Tulip mania or tulipomania was a period in the Dutch Golden Age during which contract prices for bulbs of the recently introduced tulip reached extraordinarily high levels and then suddenly collapsed."

Our Notes:  Present Bitcoin value at the time of this writing is $557.99 per coin US.  Not exactly the bursting of the bubble.  One has to wait and see for a few more days, the impact all of this news is having on all investors.  Something not taken into consideration in the above video is the fact that Bitcoins remain intact even after something like this.  The owners have not lost their Bitcoins unless their information was hacked along with the actual Bitcoins.   We find the security breach story a bit strange to say the least and may just be somewhat misleading.

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Coinbase - No Easier Way To Get Started With Bitcoin

The bitcoin logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Are you looking to buy, sell, send or receive bitcoins? Do you want a full featured wallet without all the techy feel? Well, Bloomberg's Businessweek said it best, "there is no better on-ramp to the bitcoin world than Coinbase." And we agree. Usually, with our normal videos we cover just one feature or one idea, but because Coinbase is so easy to use, we can do a bunch. In this video we are going to open an account on Coinbase, send bitcoins to email addresses and bitcoin addresses, receive bitcoins and yes, we're even going to buy and sell some BTC. Amazing.

Even though we will move slowly, chatting the whole way there will still be time left for discussing the pros and cons of the Coinbase system (one that is likely to be imitated around the world. But, we must a agree with Bloomberg, and it leaves us to wonder -- how great it would be if every country had a Coinbase? Enjoy.

https://coinbase.com/

Bigest problem with Coinbase? Well for us, who enjoy learning how bitcoin works, Coinbase keeps us too far removed from the mechanics and the technology. If you're the type who needs to be in full control of your money (you keep your gold in a hole in your back yard) well again, Coinbase isn't for you.

Welcome to WBN's Bitcoin 101 Blackboard Series -- a full beginner to expert course in bitcoin. We hope you enjoy. And remember the official WBN launch is coming up : March 1st, 2014.

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The Truth About Bitcoin

Bitcoin Art (Photo credit: btckeychain)

Stefan Molyneux looks at the rise of Bitcoin and discusses its history, mining, fees, altcoins, regulatory hypocrisy, worldwide awareness, comparisons to gold, anonymous transactions, possible government attacks and what the future holds for the decentralized cryptocurrency.

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Bitcoin 101 - Fun with Brain Wallets (Making and Playing With Them) - Bitcoin Security

The bitcoin logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

There's no idea in Bitcoin more science fiction ready than the idea of brain wallets. To actually hold your wealth inside your head (and no where else) is something that can be done only with bitcoins. In this video we set up and play with a number of brain wallets (of course they aren't really brain wallets if we tell everyone the passwords and private keys...but you get the idea). Whether you are a fiction writer or an escaping refugee, this video is for you.

Welcom to WBN's Bitcoin 101 Blackboard Series -- a full beginner to expert course in bitcoin. We hope you enjoy. And remember the official WBN launch is coming up : January 1st, 2014.

Our Notes:  We are working on a much better and safer way to store your private information so that it's extremely hard for anyone to get no matter what.  It has to do with old technology.  Sometimes that is just the best way.  

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Silk Road Scandals Still Burning Bitcoin Players

The bitcoin logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Bitcoin players are still being burned by the Silk Road scandals.  More continue to go to jail for money laundering and we suspect even more will continue to follow.  http://money.cnn.com/2014/01/27/technology/security/bitcoin-arrest/index.html?iid=obnetwork

The above link will take you to a story on CNN money for the latest on troubles surrounding Bitcoin trading.  It's not an issue with the currency itself, it's an issue with the ethics of those trying to take advantage of situations.  Bitcoin transactions are very traceable.  What are these idiots thinking?

In other news.  Bitcoin price values have taken a recent minor fall.  There is a lot of hype to the recent down market of Bitcoin, but it is still holding pretty strong around the $700.00 market per coin at the time of this article.  We do not expect to see a zero bottom like the naysayers like to predict.  It's just not there.

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Bitcoin 101 - Getting Your BTCs out of Your Paper Wallets & Cold

Bitcoin Wallpaper (2560x1600) (Photo credit: PerfectHue)

Are your bitcoins stuck in cold storage or on your paper wallet? Sure those are both GREAT places to keep them, but how do you get them out? That's the goal of this video. Hopefully by the end of these videos you will no longer be afraid to take your bitcoins out of the reaches of malware programmers.

This is part two of our bitcoin security series. Here's the intro to the series...

=========

Bitcoin security? UGH!!! Way too many bitcoins are being stolen by crafty malware programmers.

Bitcoin does so many things better than banks (trusts, escrows, programmable money, cheap transfers, instant accounts, etc.), but one area that is not quite so nice, is security.

While the bitcoin network, itself, appears bullet-proof, lots of bitcoins are being stolen, via hacking, malware and flaws in online wallets and even google's random number generator.

The answer is to get your bitcoins entirely offline, and the two ways to do this are paper wallets and cold storage. The previous video is an introduction to making both, while this video focuses on how to get your bitcoins out of cold storage (to spend, to move to another wallet, etc).

James walks you through the software and ideas used in making 'sloppy' offline wallets (which are great to have). He also gives suggestions at making even better offline wallets. This is the first of many videos we will make on bitcoin security, and the least technical.

We hope you'll enjoy.

Here's the public address to the wallet we sent the funds too...good luck...hope you get there first.
https://blockchain.info/address/19Zxx...

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Will this cause Bitcoin's fall?

An American Gold Eagle. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Do NOT buy Bitcoin
until you watch this
public message

http://pro.stansberryresearch.com/1401CRDWT55/LTRWQ1ZS/

Here is information on a very secret currency that is so secret that not even this website can tell you about it.  It's used by all the world's old money billionaires.  It's better than gold and or silver and is backed by gold and silver.  But it's a secret.  It gives you returns that are better than gold and it's the secret how the rich keep getting richer and the poor keep getting poorer.  

  How dumb are you to buy into this?  Well this guy is betting heavily that you are really dumb and would buy into this crap that he is not willing to share with you because it's a secret.  He even goes through all the trouble of showing you pictures of a bank in Switzerland and another picture he claims is a vault in that bank to try to convince you he knows something you do not know.

  Why he just didn't put up pictures of himself sitting next to his new Rolls Royce or Bentley because he knows what you do not know is beyond us.  Oh, but for taking the time to jump through a ton of hoops, he is willing to share some very secret information with you as long as you are willing to spend some money first.  (There is the secret).  This guy knows that everyone loves inside information and the lure of having something the ultra rich are supposed to have.  Can you say that yes, I am a fool and want to blindly give you my money?  

  We have checked into e-gold and there is nothing secret about it.  Is it the currency of the future?  No.  To many regulations and you have to file all kinds of private information on your ownership of it.

We have said it before and will say it again, the only real value of either gold or silver is in it's industrial or decorative use.  Lead is worth more.  Put two guys in a room.  One has a gun with a lead bullet and the other guy has a pocket full of gold.  They have to argue which one has more value and only one can walk out.  Guess who will walk out.  Gold and silver as an exchange was only created because the metals do not rust or corrode.  Other than that, no value unless you get to the monatomic value which is another story in and of itself.

This guy works for a brokerage house so he has something to sell.  Are you really willing to buy into it based on his need to make money for the business he is working for?   

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