Bitcoin Trader Closes, Taking $387M In Investor Funds

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It sure seems like there has been a lot of this going on lately. :(

As Bitcoin experiences global growth and more widespread adoption in peer-to-peer payment circles, one Asian Bitcoin trading company has swiftly closed its doors, leaving investors facing massive losses. South China Morning Post reported the closure of Hong Kong-based MyCoin, which is believed to have left as many as 3,000 investors facing a total of HK$3 billion ($387 million) in losses.
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It is a currency who's primary use is buying drugs and other illegal crap.

So yeah this is going to happen, it is a gigantic scam no matter how much you "love the idea".
 
XvMMvX said:
It is a currency who's primary use is buying drugs and other illegal crap.

So yeah this is going to happen, it is a gigantic scam no matter how much you "love the idea".
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I thought this was going to be used after America takes over the entire world?
 
doesn't seem to have impacted price. Hopefully they dump it and we get a nice crash. Nom nom nom that cheap BTC.

I for one could care less about all the bitcoin love or hate. It was fun to mine and it's fun to trade. More free money pls.
 
This is the downside of a non-government backed currency ... people can complain about government currencies all they want but they are generally more stable and supported by all the governments that engage in trade with each other ... a currency that is only supported by the goodwill of its users is much less stable and very risky when that goodwill evaporates ;)
 
Meh, Risk comes with potential big gains, no biggy.

Hmm, I smell new market manipulation coming soon to unload these.
 
XvMMvX said:
Silk Road... and the bitcoin crash that started after it was busted.
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You named a website and a crash that started after it was busted.

Bitcoins still hold a lot of value.


I asked for proof, not a website that deals with drugs/murder etc etc....
 
So that's how you make money with BitCoins, have some "trading company" and when enough roll in... just disappear. The nature of how BitCoins work allow you to cash out and disappear from the world since no one knows who you are :D
 
People think they invested, when really they speculated. Speculation is really the only thing that is done with Currencies, crypto or sovereign nation.
 
JPF_ said:
You named a website and a crash that started after it was busted.

Bitcoins still hold a lot of value.


I asked for proof, not a website that deals with drugs/murder etc etc....
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You won't get proof out of him since he doesn't seem to know enough about bitcoins to realize the crash he speaks of was due to market manipulation after the website was shut down. Someone dumped a lot of coins right after the seizure then bought up as many as they could once the price took a dive. Of course they don't explain that in the news articles he read that make him such an expert.
 
Calling all Bitcoin Defense League members! Emergency! Unite and drown out reason with bitcoin ideology! This thread needs you!
 
JPF_ said:
You named a website and a crash that started after it was busted.

Bitcoins still hold a lot of value.


I asked for proof, not a website that deals with drugs/murder etc etc....
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Evidence will never be proof to you, there will never be enough.

CreepyUncleGoogle said:
Calling all Bitcoin Defense League members! Emergency! Unite and drown out reason with bitcoin ideology! This thread needs you!
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LIBERTY!

Taxes are theft, now pave my street!

It's not for drugs! Dude.. Wait.. What?
 
so yeah, this place was a ponzie. plain and simple.

hold your own private keys. same as it ever was.

bought more today.
 
XvMMvX said:
It is a currency who's primary use is buying drugs and other illegal crap.

So yeah this is going to happen, it is a gigantic scam no matter how much you "love the idea".
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Prior to bitcoins what was the dominant form of currency used for illegal purchases, and was that currency demeaned or diminished because of it?



kbrickley said:
This is the downside of a non-government backed currency ... people can complain about government currencies all they want but they are generally more stable and supported by all the governments that engage in trade with each other ... a currency that is only supported by the goodwill of its users is much less stable and very risky when that goodwill evaporates ;)
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You arent afraid of all those printing presses just manufacturing your safe money all day every day? This stability you speak of is only moderated by the public's willingness to tolerate inflation. Ask yourself why a gallon of milk costs 5x as much as it did 20 years ago, now ask yourself if gold is only worth 1/5th as much as it was 20 years ago.

If you look at bitcoin today like the gold rush then the market is in perfect harmony and we expect these kind of swings. It may take a little longer to stabilize since governments are beginning to actively work against it.

Bitcoin is valuable because people made it valuable, just like they made random rocks and minerals from within our planet valuable. They require great resources either physically or financially to obtain significant worth and they are finite. What more from a currency could you want? Something that governments manipulate and devalue on a daily basis at their whim? Something that competing nations can use as a weapon against us? Something that can just be fabricated indefinitely through use a printing press? The stability in the dollar only exists because you think it exists. Thats a lot riding on nothing more than an emotional safety blanket.
 
"No one seems to know who is behind this," she said. "Everyone says they too are victims ... but we were told by those at higher tiers [of the scheme] that we can get our money back if we find more new clients."
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Ahahaha. How on earth did these guys manage to get some 3,000 people to invest over $100,000 each on this?
 
Situations like this seem like they are only going to scare potential investors and only delay what many think is the inevitable adoption of this or some similar crypto currency. I am not sure that there will ever be a wide spread adoption of something so unregulated, otherwise things like this will keep happening. I realize bitcoin is still in its infancy but until they get their %$*@ together, this will keep happening and the value will unstable.
 
Every currency has bad actors. People have their cash taken from them at gunpoint. Regulated banks have heists. It is so curious that people lack the power of concentration to focus on what the story actually is.

Let's try a little remedial education.

How to store bitcoins:

Bitaddress software downloaded to a thumb drive.
Run on clean laptop that is never connected to internet.

Write everything down, as per below.

How-To-Store-Bitcoins.png


That's it. There is a better chance of the earth not existing in 5 seconds than public key hacking failure. If public key fails, all e-commerce fails. Simple as that.

(Of course this particular address is now compromised, only to be used in this example.)

Every single "story" involved a centralized exchange holding the private keys.





Every.

Single.

One.
 
The $387 million are totally and utterly wrong. This sum is what they promised the customers, not what they run away with. It was very openly a pyramid scheme. If I promise to give you one million $ if you give me $100 now and you'll never hear from me again, did I disappear with $100 or one million $?
 
DocSavage said:
Ahahaha. How on earth did these guys manage to get some 3,000 people to invest over $100,000 each on this?
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Most rich people arent rich because they are smart, they are rich because they are cunning. This kind of practice directly appeals to their nature. This kind of practice is probably how they acquired their wealth in the first place (screwing people, looking the other way, cheating, manipulating, etc)
 
McFry said:
You arent afraid of all those printing presses just manufacturing your safe money all day every day? This stability you speak of is only moderated by the public's willingness to tolerate inflation. Ask yourself why a gallon of milk costs 5x as much as it did 20 years ago, now ask yourself if gold is only worth 1/5th as much as it was 20 years ago.

If you look at bitcoin today like the gold rush then the market is in perfect harmony and we expect these kind of swings. It may take a little longer to stabilize since governments are beginning to actively work against it.

Bitcoin is valuable because people made it valuable, just like they made random rocks and minerals from within our planet valuable. They require great resources either physically or financially to obtain significant worth and they are finite. What more from a currency could you want? Something that governments manipulate and devalue on a daily basis at their whim? Something that competing nations can use as a weapon against us? Something that can just be fabricated indefinitely through use a printing press? The stability in the dollar only exists because you think it exists. Thats a lot riding on nothing more than an emotional safety blanket.
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I am not opposed to the concept of the bitcoin I just fail to see how it enables trillion dollar trading to occur (which is how most government currencies are used) ... the goal of money is to spend it on things that have value or need ... our current global economy is above 75 trillion dollars ... I would support any currency that would allow that to continue to grow as the world population grows ... if bitcoin can get there someday then I am all in
 
kbrickley said:
I am not opposed to the concept of the bitcoin I just fail to see how it enables trillion dollar trading to occur (which is how most government currencies are used) ... the goal of money is to spend it on things that have value or need ... our current global economy is above 75 trillion dollars ... I would support any currency that would allow that to continue to grow as the world population grows ... if bitcoin can get there someday then I am all in
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infinite growth is impossible in a finite environment regardless of currency. Sure we can extend the finite environment by increased efficiency, but short of finding a new CHEAP source of energy, that growth potential is still limited. also our current monetary system is based on Petrodollars and military force. Bitcoins are based on neither. If Bitcoins are actually backed by tangible assets then it can be more stable than it is now
 
McFry said:
Prior to bitcoins what was the dominant form of currency used for illegal purchases, and was that currency demeaned or diminished because of it?
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Cash has historically been used for illegal purchases and the second part of your question is poorly worded.

Cash has not been "demeaned or diminished" due to bitcoins but it certainly became harder to use for illicit purposes because technology has made it easier to track and seize currency. Bitcoins has made illicit transactions easier by digitizing currency so it can flow faster and easier. While not untraceable, it's digital liquidity resolves some of the problems related to cash transactions.
 
mope54 said:
Cash has historically been used for illegal purchases and the second part of your question is poorly worded.

Cash has not been "demeaned or diminished" due to bitcoins but it certainly became harder to use for illicit purposes because technology has made it easier to track and seize currency. Bitcoins has made illicit transactions easier by digitizing currency so it can flow faster and easier. While not untraceable, it's digital liquidity resolves some of the problems related to cash transactions.
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My point was the OP's false equivalency that because bitcoins are used in illegal transactions that is all they are good for. They are used for illegal transactions because they are superior to cash. When people use cash for illegal transfers nobody says "welp there goes that dolla bill being spent on illicit drugs again". It's used because it is the best option. If cash didnt exist then all of our illegal purchases would be done with credit. It doesnt really matter what bitcoin is currently used for, the point is it has value. If it were to catch on mainstream than the ratio between illegal uses and legal one's would even out just like it has with every other monetary device.
 
Chas said:
Pointless mincing of words is pointless.
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My point is that it should come as no surprise when someone is easily scammed out of 100k or more. People associate wealth with success and success with intelligence. They are shocked a millionaire would invest in an obvious ponzi scheme. They either did it knowingly hoping to cash out before it crashed, or they live in a world where these kind of nonsense investments make sense.
 
McFry said:
Most rich people arent rich because they are smart, they are rich because they are cunning. This kind of practice directly appeals to their nature. This kind of practice is probably how they acquired their wealth in the first place (screwing people, looking the other way, cheating, manipulating, etc)
Click to expand...

Sorry that's your experience but I know some wealthy people that did it the old fashion way, they worked their ass off and were smart, invested or invented something of value.

Its sad that people equate success with thievery of the poor.
 
If Bitcoin wants to become its own currency then why is its value tied only to government backed currency..aka cash?
 
fdiaz78 said:
Sorry that's your experience but I know some wealthy people that did it the old fashion way, they worked their ass off and were smart, invested or invented something of value.

Its sad that people equate success with thievery of the poor.
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Too true.

This is one of the reasons why I do not trust the motivations of people that wish to punish the "rich". For starters, rich is a subjective term. The guy making $10 an hour at Target probably would consider the manager making $25 an hour rich, but to that manager, the district manager getting a $100,000 annual salary is rich, and so on up the line to the executives. Where do you draw the line and how do you determine what is fair?

I know a number of savvy business people who worked really hard, were very frugal in their lifestyle, and carved out a very nice niche for themselves in the market. Some people would definitely consider them rich and there are also those that would begrudge them because of their wealth. I am not one of those people. I enjoy working with them because they are some of the most kind and honest people that you will ever have the pleasure of dealing with.

At the same time, I can't feel sorry for the unscrupulous types that engage in these activities of defrauding people, regardless of the mechanism by which they con people out of their money. Bitcoin speculation has certainly attracted its share of these immoral types and based upon my personal risk assessment, Bitcoin is simply not worth the speculative risk, especially since my own risk-tolerance is very low. That doesn't necessarily imply that the technology is faulty or that it is only used for illegal activities, but if we are being brutally honest, any speculative commodity bordering on fiat-currency that touts anonymity as one of its primary benefits will probably attract a higher percentage of the bad actors out there.

The logic still holds true that you should not punish the masses for the wrongs of the few. In this regard, there may be cause for regulatory action, but outright bans on the technology would be akin to punitive taxation for the "rich" based upon the false-assumption that they do not deserve their wealth because they had to screw someone to obtain it. By all means punish the criminals when they are exposed, but please do not draw the conclusion that it is only a criminal enterprise.
 
it's a token for use on a protocol, with currency being it's first app.
 
Just like anything else the value of bitcoin is only what people are willing to give up to give it.

the dollar and most other fiat currencies are backed by nothing than some entities good word.

there is little wrong with the coin, there is a lot wrong with people.
 
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