Bitcoinica Users Sue for $460k in Lost Bitcoins

CommanderFrank

CommanderFrank

Cat Can't Scratch It
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Messages
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Bitcoinica is being sued for failure to protect the users money from hackers. The Bitcoin trading platform has been hacked twice this year resulting in what could be called a devaluation of the Bitcoin, generating the lawsuit to recover over $460k.

The plaintiffs are asking for recompense in "the loss of use of said monies while the present action is pending, changes in the value of said monies due to fluctuating exchange rates, etc., all in amounts to be proven at trial.”
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Good point. If they believe in this "currency" why are they suing for USD?
 
Oh, look, that currency that claimed you could operate without a government is now going to the government for help because they got ripped off.

Experiment failed, sucks to be you.
 
kllrnohj said:
Oh, look, that currency that claimed you could operate without a government is now going to the government for help because they got ripped off.

Experiment failed, sucks to be you.
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It's not so much that crypto-currency has failed, so much as it's in its infancy and stumbling around before it can walk.
 
kllrnohj said:
Oh, look, that currency that claimed you could operate without a government is now going to the government for help because they got ripped off.

Experiment failed, sucks to be you.
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"The currency" is not going anywhere. Its users are, however, suing the "owners" of said currency for their negligence.


Get your facts straight.
 
Raudulfr said:
"The currency" is not going anywhere. Its users are, however, suing the "owners" of said currency for their negligence.


Get your facts straight.
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weren't the earlier claims regarding the strength of bitcoins that it is a decentralized monetary system? how can there be "users" vs. "owners" in a decentralized system?

seems like bitcoin proponents need to get their paradigm straight
 
The whole bitcoin thing is completely stupid. Anyone who believes that bitcoins will ever become a real currency needs to get their head checked.

On the other hand, I do mine bitcoins myself and sell them for USD to people dumb enough to buy them. :D
 
leeleatherwood said:
The whole bitcoin thing is completely stupid. Anyone who believes that bitcoins will ever become a real currency needs to get their head checked.

On the other hand, I do mine bitcoins myself and sell them for USD to people dumb enough to buy them. :D
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So it's like the Diablo 3 RMAH with even less game? :D
 
Wow I remember when Bitcoin fever hit this forum and you couldn't find an AMD 5870 or better for sale that wasn't at least $300 or more.
 
Can't complain.

Bitcoins have paid for most of Rockstar and Gir systems in my sig.

As well as...

5x 890FXA-GD70s
5x AMD 145 CPUs (3 unlocked into dual core chips)
5x 2GB Ram
10x ATI Radeon 5830s
8x ATI Radeon 5850s

So yes, of someone decided to play hard and fast with 40k worth of BTC, and lost it all, I'd take them to court over that amount (actually, I'd sue them for the CURRENT cost of the BTC, somewhere in the 60-70k range.)
 
kllrnohj said:
Oh, look, that currency that claimed you could operate without a government is now going to the government for help because they got ripped off.

Experiment failed, sucks to be you.
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You could cut the irony with a Bitcoin purchased knife….:p
 
bitcoin is risky because the people managing the currency's worth are not government .... so what is the guarantee on the value of the currency when it was devalued based on hacks and virtual theft ?

already they are only willing to pay half the value of bitcoin.

So if you had paid real money for x amount of bitcoun, you will only be able to cash back half of that amount. That seems very unacceptable >->; especially when the devaluing of the currency was via criminal means.

If you really must use bitcoin, don't convert huge sums into it :p Just only enough to pay for your monthly subscription vpn bill only :X
 
Godmachine said:
Wow I remember when Bitcoin fever hit this forum and you couldn't find an AMD 5870 or better for sale that wasn't at least $300 or more.
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good times sold 2 5870 for 650.00 on ebay lol i think i paid like 390.00 used here on the forums. crazy kids and their bitcoin mania
 
kllrnohj said:
Oh, look, that currency that claimed you could operate without a government is now going to the government for help because they got ripped off.

Experiment failed, sucks to be you.
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This times 100

how can they sue when bitcoing isnt a recognized currency by governments of earth.
 
NECKBEARDS UNITE!

THIS IS... BITCOIN!!!!!!

I love bitcoin neckbeard gold, any time it pops up in the news it just makes me laugh.
 
Filter said:
This times 100

how can they sue when bitcoing isnt a recognized currency by governments of earth.
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It's a construct that is attributed value via its exchange rate in US dollars. As long as demand exists for it, regardless of what it is, the item has value.

If I had $460k worth of horse manure and someone stole it from me, I could still sue them for the value of the manure, since they deprived me of the opportunity to sell or use the manure to extract value from it.

The thing with Bitcoin is that it is a form of currency (not unlike our current fiat currency, just less accepted as currency worldwide) that has a known value compared to other currencies, as evidenced by its exchange rate, so someone stealing/altering/destroying Bitcoin that users should have possession of is depriving them of the value of that Bitcoin, and they definitely can sue to have that value reinstated to them, in whatever means they wish.

The real issue here is whether a judge and/or expert witnesses will determine that the lost Bitcoin really do have (USD) monetary value. In my opinion, they obviously do, because a market exists for them and people do buy them at a market price, so it's no more difficult than if someone stole a pile of Euros from me and I sued to be repaid in USD. The judge would have the option of saying "no, it's OK for them to repay you in Euros," just as he could say here that all that's required is for the defendants to restore the lost Bitcoin plus whatever he determines necessary in value for lost time or lack of use or any other condition.
 
They aren't suing the "owners" of bitcoins they're suing basically the equivalent of a bank for losing their money and just saying sorry.
 
as a fellow bitcoin miner i can see how this happened.

That being said i've lost 10 bitcoins before, because i formated my computer. Wonder who should foot that bill.

Anyways To date i've mined several hundred BTC, and boy i was loving it when they get around 30$ per coin for a few days. Even now the value has rebounded some. I stopped doing mining when they hit sub 5$. Now they over 10$ again and well i'm back to mining/selling.

have 2 7870's mining when not gaming, and 6870x12 in other machines all cranking away. All video cards where purchased via trading of bitcoins. So say what you want about them. Don't really care if they disappear or not, i would prefer they don't clearly. Maybe one day they will become a form of recognized currency.
 
Mini-Me said:
It's not so much that crypto-currency has failed, so much as it's in its infancy and stumbling around before it can walk.
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I was only talking about bitcoin specifically. It has some good solutions to many of the technical problems, but it's economic principles are pretty, well, shit. A non-growing, decentralized, government-less currency is like a wet dream for gold standard supporters - and also completely ignores everything we know about how economies and currencies work.

But hey, have fun with that.
 
kllrnohj said:
I was only talking about bitcoin specifically. It has some good solutions to many of the technical problems, but it's economic principles are pretty, well, shit. A non-growing, decentralized, government-less currency is like a wet dream for gold standard supporters - and also completely ignores everything we know about how economies and currencies work.

But hey, have fun with that.
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...let me guess. A currency with a constant supply doesn't work because of the "deflationary spiral" that happens when you let prices go down naturally as the aggregate supply of goods and services increases, instead of inflating the currency to redistribute wealth and keep prices stable (or make them rise, and faster than wages, which is always what really happens with government-controlled fiat currencies)? That is, constant-supply currencies don't work because of the deflationary spiral that we know doesn't actually ever happen in real life due to time-preference, a principle that people familiar with rapidly dropping technology prices should especially understand? ;)
 
Bitcoins has been very profitable to me also, plus it was really fun.

I liked trading bitcoins too, made even more money that way than mining really.

Lost interest when the value went down, but still have a few left over I didn't cash in.

The mere fact this story is happening can attest to the durability of the concept. A few more years could make this very interesting...
 
ebduncan said:
there is no password to your bit coin wallet, the bitcoins are stored locally on your hard drive.
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Well technically if u encrypted ur wallet and forgot that password ~ ur fucked..... LOL
Maybe thats what he was referring too..

Eitherway, Bitcoin is also about being responsible w/ the coins in ur possession. They have the same risk as cash. If you lend coins to a 3rd party (an exchange) you have to do it knowing you may never see those coins again.
Thats the responsibility that comes w/ freedom.

Thats exactly whats happened w/ bitcoinica too and the lawsuit is a result of people not being willing to own up to their own foolishness w/ their money.
 
A currency only has as much power at the issuing body can leverage violence against those that forge it...and in this case the hacking can be considered forgery.

The problem here is it's not a recognized currency by anybody bit the users of it, there's no body strong enough to eforce it's value. This is why I said it was doomed from the beginning.
 
mustang_steve said:
A currency only has as much power at the issuing body can leverage violence against those that forge it...and in this case the hacking can be considered forgery.
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If you could forge (as in "print" your own money) a bitcoin, then the whole system would implode, since there can only be a predetermined, finite, amount of (divisible) bitcoins. Great concept.

The fact that people are stealing them instead speaks volumes about the coins themselves.
 
Do you think the money launders have an interest in bitcoins as well? If/when that happens, bitcoins will be here to stay
 
Parmenides said:
Do you think the money launders have an interest in bitcoins as well? If/when that happens, bitcoins will be here to stay
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it's already part of black markets...

there is no reason it can't be used to move money secretly either....

think of a terrorist funding network via email/irc...

if you don't think it's an incredibly versatile currency you don't know much about it...
 
That sucks, but I am not surprised. I really enjoy mining bitcoins. I love hardware, i love video cards, i love the fact that the computers I love to build can actually pay for themselves and then some.

I however do not trust bitcoin. Everyday I sell my mined coins, and every week I withdrawl that into USD into my bank account that is protected. If someone steals my debit card and buys a flat screen tv, i am refunded. If someone steals my bitcoins, im just screwed.
 
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