Bitcoins are officially donkdown

[sonatine]

I remember reading awhile back that Gox fired most of their staff and hired a new staff.

That means to me one of two things. Either the staff was stealing and Mark didn't know about it, or Mark was stealing and the staff was rising up against him.

I dont remember this, is there a source available? Id be very curious to examine this in light of recent events.

[bukowski72]

This may be moonlanding, but

Senator Joe Manchin Pushing to Ban Bitcoins
by Josh Feldman | 3:43 pm, February 26th, 2014

"Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) is pushing for a ban on the virtual currency Bitcoin. In a letter sent to federal regulators, Manchin says the currency should be banned because it’s “unregulated and unstable” and used for “illicit activity, including drug trafficking and money laundering.”

Manchin warns that the anonymity of Bitcoin attracts criminals and it’s “very susceptible to hackers,” and calls for the U.S. to join other countries in banning the virtual currency, otherwise “Americans will be left holding the bag on a valueless currency.”
http://www.mediaite.com/online/senat...-ban-bitcoins/

Mediate took that from Business Insider. Here is their longer article which includes the letter:
http://www.businessinsider.com/senat...r+-+Politix%29

[abrown83]

I remember reading awhile back that Gox fired most of their staff and hired a new staff.

That means to me one of two things. Either the staff was stealing and Mark didn't know about it, or Mark was stealing and the staff was rising up against him.

I dont remember this, is there a source available? Id be very curious to examine this in light of recent events.

It was on Reddit, here is a BitCoinTalk link to it.

I don't know if the actual Reddit post still exists?

[monsterj]

Having run away like a little girl...

I will say this bullish reversal pattern we are seeing on the daily is pretty fucking rare.

Example :


The actual BTC chart is even better looking than the above textbook example cause 5/25 has a "long legged dragon fly doji" at the bottom. If this wasn't a 24 hour market it might even be the holy grail of trading bottoms - the "abandoned baby doji". Always thought that was a cool name, lol.

If today's candle closes at $600 or more we get a bullish engulfing pattern. 5/26 green candle dwarfs 5/24 red. Traders love that shit.

I also think a lot of weak holders have been shook out by Gox and crash. This might actually turn out to be a good thing for near term price.

So all that said the chart looks great. Druff, I firmly do not see an imminent crash. Yet I say again, Bitcoin is a bubble in collapse, so bag your profits quick.

Might rebuy on a retracement back to $550... We'll see.

Have you plotted the BTC/Aussie Dollar vs Sterling/Spot Gold Chart? $$$$$$$. I don't see how a pattern trader could lose!!

[Sanlmar]

Having run away like a little girl...

I will say this bullish reversal pattern we are seeing on the daily is pretty fucking rare.

Example :


The actual BTC chart is even better looking than the above textbook example cause 5/25 has a "long legged dragon fly doji" at the bottom. If this wasn't a 24 hour market it might even be the holy grail of trading bottoms - the "abandoned baby doji". Always thought that was a cool name, lol.

If today's candle closes at $600 or more we get a bullish engulfing pattern. 5/26 green candle dwarfs 5/24 red. Traders love that shit.

I also think a lot of weak holders have been shook out by Gox and crash. This might actually turn out to be a good thing for near term price.

So all that said the chart looks great. Druff, I firmly do not see an imminent crash. Yet I say again, Bitcoin is a bubble in collapse, so bag your profits quick.

Might rebuy on a retracement back to $550... We'll see.

Have you plotted the BTC/Aussie Dollar vs Sterling/Spot Gold Chart? $$$$$$$. I don't see how a pattern trader could lose!!

My people have suffered oppression for thousands of years. This is not heresy!

I practice astrology too. You're a Pisces. I recommend you stay indoors today.

Scary, huh?

[sonatine]

I dont remember this, is there a source available? Id be very curious to examine this in light of recent events.

It was on Reddit, here is a BitCoinTalk link to it.

I don't know if the actual Reddit post still exists?

Honestly I dont entirely agree with your interpretation. Given the timing, to me it sounds more like exactly what anyone would do if they found out that they had 744k btc fleeced from their cold storage; fire the least essential staff to stem the bleeding however possible.

That said, the FBI seem interested in determining where the truth lies between our interpretations;

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-0...olations-mtgox

[abrown83]

It was on Reddit, here is a BitCoinTalk link to it.

I don't know if the actual Reddit post still exists?

Honestly I dont entirely agree with your interpretation. Given the timing, to me it sounds more like exactly what anyone would do if they found out that they had 744k btc fleeced from their cold storage; fire the least essential staff to stem the bleeding however possible.

That said, the FBI seem interested in determining where the truth lies between our interpretations;

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-0...olations-mtgox

From their notes they had 20,000,000 in cash on hand so they weren't cash poor....I guess that's how I came to my conclusion that it was an inside job, but maybe you are right and they just went into panic mode.

If they were trading about 50,000 BitCoins a day at .55% fee.

That's 275 Bitcoins in fees at say 550 or so today.

That means they were doing $151,250 a day in business.

Those are conservative numbers as well. As I think their volume was closer to 2x that a day.

[sonatine]

Honestly I dont entirely agree with your interpretation. Given the timing, to me it sounds more like exactly what anyone would do if they found out that they had 744k btc fleeced from their cold storage; fire the least essential staff to stem the bleeding however possible.

That said, the FBI seem interested in determining where the truth lies between our interpretations;

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-0...olations-mtgox

From their notes they had 20,000,000 in cash on hand so they weren't cash poor....I guess that's how I came to my conclusion that it was an inside job, but maybe you are right and they just went into panic mode.

If they were trading about 50,000 BitCoins a day at .55% fee.

That's 275 Bitcoins in fees at say 550 or so today.

That means they were doing $151,250 a day in business.

Those are conservative numbers as well. As I think their volume was closer to 2x that a day.

Yeah I have to admit, the more I look at the numbers, the less sense the layoffs make in the context I proposed. Unless of course they were just doing dot com management by numbers. Its very confusing because there were also rumors Gox was _hiring_ at the same time.. which definitely lends strength to the perspective that they were concerned about a mole in the ranks, so to speak.

Curiouser and curiouser....

[Charham]

I dont remember this, is there a source available? Id be very curious to examine this in light of recent events.

It was on Reddit, here is a BitCoinTalk link to it.

I don't know if the actual Reddit post still exists?

Lots of fired ex employees makes for whisteblowers. Just a matter of time before a clearer picture even hiding behind Japanese yakuza with 20mm or 3 billion bit coins. If this was US the US attorney would have flipped a few already and perp walk would have happened.

[sonatine]

TC-e Statement regarding MtGox possible insolvency
25.02.14 17:31 from admin

Dear BTC-e.com participants,

We are concerned by MtGox shutdown and would like to assure you that:

1. MtGox losses do not affect account balances or the operation of BTC-e in any way.

2. We confirm the Bitcoin system operation and its exciting prospects, and MtGox bankruptcy has not been caused by any underlying technical problems of Bitcoin. Bitcoin international peer-to-peer network and cryptocurrency are independent of actions of a single market participant. Bitcoin protocol continues to function exactly as it should. The cryptocurrency maintains its stability and the network will continue to develop and exist as long as required by its users.

3. At BTC-e we are constantly monitoring Bitcoin accounts and FIAT reserves. At BTC-e we continue to maintain all clients’ assets in full – both Bitcoin and FIAT.

4. BTC-е has no vulnerabilities during client transactions as we use safe and proven transaction protocols. All transaction issues reported by our clients undergo a thorough check.


The safety of client funds and transactions is of ultimate importance for the company, and this is the reason why we have been an industry leader for the last three years.

1. BTC-е is at its peak of financial strength with the record levels of clients and capital adequacy. The company plans to start publishing financial statements, verified by an external audit, on a regular basis.

2. The highest levels of security are already in place at BTC-e, and the company regularly uses external professional advice to further increase the security of our clients.

3. BTC-e is the only exchange to offer a modern trading platform, MetaTrader 4, to its clients, and many other exciting projects and further upgrades are in the pipeline.

The company plans to soon begin to publish publicly available statements certified by external auditors.






I just love it. Exchange opened by American aspie neckbeards: raped into oblivion, black holes $350,000,000. Exchange opened by shady Eastern Euro crime syndicate: Super solvent, incredibly well coded, 100% legit and facing a profoundly bright future with total transparency into its financial dealings.

[Charham]

"The latter seems likely, however, as one source believes that Karpeles knew about the pervasive damage of the transaction malleability attacks for several weeks and was engaging in an arbitrage scheme that leveraged the depressed Mt. Gox price to reap gains on other exchanges."


Great article on the final weeks of mt gox, including the above quote. The author even got a copy of their business plan. The business plan looked pretty good , except when you get to the management section, oh and failure to account for loss of client funds. That team is light even for a new start up let alone an established company. We now know why they couldn't attract any financial playas to the team. http://www.coindesk.com/leaked-mt-go...firm-mandalah/

[sonatine]

I havent even clicked on the link yet and my mouth is already watering.

[sonatine]

The chain reaction that followed was rapid. The solicited investors rebuffed Karpeles and his colleagues’ pleas for a bailout, demanded the company come clean to customers and stakeholders immediately, and then notified other industry executives, including those at the Bitcoin Foundation, of the catastrophic losses at Mt. Gox.

[sonatine]

Mt. Gox has allegedly never conducted a single audit of its customer deposits, and it is believed that Karpeles may have been the only one within the company to have knowledge of how to actually tap the exchange’s cold storage.

[sonatine]

just

[Charham]

The chain reaction that followed was rapid. The solicited investors rebuffed Karpeles and his colleagues’ pleas for a bailout, demanded the company come clean to customers and stakeholders immediately, and then notified other industry executives, including those at the Bitcoin Foundation, of the catastrophic losses at Mt. Gox.

Can you imagine the look on Mark's face. He was thinking he was going to raise big $$ from these guys, and instead they run from the room and report him.

[sonatine]

Can you imagine the look on Mark's face. He was thinking he was going to raise big $$ from these guys, and instead they run from the room and report him.

To me, that right there is The Story of Bitcoins.

[sonatine]

I love how when they list their assets v liabilities, they have the balls to translate the 750k bitcoin deficit into USD using their own hilariously gutted BTC->USD exchange rate. So in their minds, they are down about $110,000,000 instead of the $415,000,000 those BTC are worth literally anyplace else.

[Charham]

I love how when they list their assets v liabilities, they have the balls to translate the 750k bitcoin deficit into USD using their own hilariously gutted BTC->USD exchange rate. So in their minds, they are down about $110,000,000 instead of the $415,000,000 those BTC are worth literally anyplace else.

If I am reading the financials correctly, it appears they have $20-$30mm of "fiat" on hand. That is a lot of money to sit on while your head is under the stand and no regulators shutting you down. Essentially they allowed or stole themselves all this money, and now have a $20-$30mm slush fund to minimize their own personal liability since no authority will shut them down. A lot of high priced criminal attorneys are receiving large retainers with customer money as we speak!

[sonatine]

If Im reading this right, they are even including the 5m USD that the Department of Homeland Security has confiscated as an asset.