Bitcoin exchange loses more than $60 million in digital heist

[Team Sergeant]

WOW never saw that coming.........

I swear we live in a world full of idiots.




Bitcoin exchange loses more than $60 million in digital heist
By Mike Flacy
·Published August 03, 2016

After reporting the hack to authorities this week, Hong Kong-based Bitfinex halted all trading after discovering a theft of Bitcoin worth tens of millions. Detailed on the company's site, all digital deposits and withdrawals have been halted as well. While the company didn't publicly announce the total amount of stolen Bitcoin on the site, Bitfinex community director Zane Thackett estimated the loss at just under 120,000btc on Reddit earlier today.

At the current exchange rate, that puts the total loss at around $65 million. The company did announce that the theft was limited specifically to Bitcoin wallets and no other digital tokens currently traded on the site were impacted by the theft. While the authorities attempt to trace down the location of the stolen funds, Bitfinex will also have to figure out how hackers were able to circumvent the company's withdrawal limits.

Speaking about the loss, a Bitfinex representative posted: "We are investigating the breach to determine what happened, but we know that some of our users have had their bitcoins stolen….We are deeply concerned about this issue and we are committing every resource to try to resolve it. We ask for the community's patience as we unravel the causes and consequences of this breach."


cont:

http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2016/08/...tal-heist.html

[(1VB)compforce]

Originally Posted by Team Sergeant

WOW never saw that coming.........

I swear we live in a world full of idiots.
...
While the authorities attempt to trace down the location of the stolen funds
...

yup, good luck with that

[Flagg]

Originally Posted by Team Sergeant

WOW never saw that coming.........

I swear we live in a world full of idiots.




Bitcoin exchange loses more than $60 million in digital heist
By Mike Flacy
·Published August 03, 2016

After reporting the hack to authorities this week, Hong Kong-based Bitfinex halted all trading after discovering a theft of Bitcoin worth tens of millions. Detailed on the company's site, all digital deposits and withdrawals have been halted as well. While the company didn't publicly announce the total amount of stolen Bitcoin on the site, Bitfinex community director Zane Thackett estimated the loss at just under 120,000btc on Reddit earlier today.

At the current exchange rate, that puts the total loss at around $65 million. The company did announce that the theft was limited specifically to Bitcoin wallets and no other digital tokens currently traded on the site were impacted by the theft. While the authorities attempt to trace down the location of the stolen funds, Bitfinex will also have to figure out how hackers were able to circumvent the company's withdrawal limits.

Speaking about the loss, a Bitfinex representative posted: "We are investigating the breach to determine what happened, but we know that some of our users have had their bitcoins stolen….We are deeply concerned about this issue and we are committing every resource to try to resolve it. We ask for the community's patience as we unravel the causes and consequences of this breach."


cont:

http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2016/08/...tal-heist.html

I don't know how this theft specifically occurred, and I'm not a big fan of the Bitcoin experiment, but after the brief I received by a couple of major banking CIOs a few weeks back, blockchain is going to become an increasingly important and useful component to our future.

Potentially everything from house/car titles to the execution of legal contracts/agreements.

[Team Sergeant]

Originally Posted by Flagg

I don't know how this theft specifically occurred, and I'm not a big fan of the Bitcoin experiment, but after the brief I received by a couple of major banking CIOs a few weeks back, blockchain is going to become an increasingly important and useful component to our future.

Potentially everything from house/car titles to the execution of legal contracts/agreements.

My issue with bitcoins, where do they go when the electricity is turned off?

(Kinda like where does the white go when the snow melts?)

The only "future" I see for bitcoins is a brilliant crime future......ransoms, hostage situations, kidnappings, money laundering, drug dealings, etc etc etc

[(1VB)compforce]

Originally Posted by Team Sergeant

My issue with bitcoins, where do they go when the electricity is turned off?

(Kinda like where does the white go when the snow melts?)

The only "future" I see for bitcoins is a brilliant crime future......ransoms, hostage situations, kidnappings, money laundering, drug dealings, etc etc etc

My issue is that they are being used as currency. Both for the reasons you mentioned and because they are built to be untraceable unless it is in your hand/computer.

[Flagg]

Originally Posted by Team Sergeant

My issue with bitcoins, where do they go when the electricity is turned off?

(Kinda like where does the white go when the snow melts?)

The only "future" I see for bitcoins is a brilliant crime future......ransoms, hostage situations, kidnappings, money laundering, drug dealings, etc etc etc

If electricity goes out, as I understand it, it would have to be a global electricity loss to prevent access to blockchain(with your accessible portion of it).

If that happened, we would be globally doomed and it's little different than the vast majority of cashless money/credit transactions we make daily.

I totally agree with your point on Bitcoin, largely due to the fact that it is ultimately limited to 21 million and doesn't scale, hence my use of the word experiment.

What's most interesting about blockchain(the underlying tech of the Bitcoin experiment) is how it is so much harder to counterfeit/corrupt/conduct fraud.

When you compare credit card transaction and title search(property/cars) flow charts and vulnerabilities with blockchain there is simply no comparison.

Think of blockchain as a publicly available add-only spreadsheet accessible to all.

While the opportunity for crime certainly exists, so does the ability of sovereign states and law enforcement to monitor and use as evidence to develop cases for prosecution.

Think about the last time you bought or sold a house.

Think about the pile of paperwork and the rather significant cost of title searches.

Imagine if all house titles(and their histories) were uploaded to the blockchain ledger associated with a unique identifier (keeping you anonymous except to local/state/federal government) for each property.

Title searches and transfer costs would collapse, saving hard working folks a whole lot of money with far better security and transparency.

It could even potentially work for wills.

Imagine you have assets you want to leave to people/organisations exactly as you desire.

You could add logic (if, then statements) to your assets held in the blockchain that would remain until say a date is triggered. Potentially simplifying contractual agreements and reducing frictions from frivolous legal opposition.

Lots of potential, especially between individuals and organisations that cuts out the banks.

The banks are afraid.

And while governments can monitor for criminal/illegal behaviour they don't control blockchain, they just possess the resources to monitor all transactions.

It's very interesting and worth learning more about the underlying blockchain potential.

[Daniel8]

Originally Posted by Team Sergeant

My issue with bitcoins, where do they go when the electricity is turned off?

(Kinda like where does the white go when the snow melts?)

The only "future" I see for bitcoins is a brilliant crime future......ransoms, hostage situations, kidnappings, money laundering, drug dealings, etc etc etc

I disagree with you. I think bitcoin has a good future. I want to try to make money on bitcoins. Many people are doing this. I want to learn more about all the pitfalls. I found the article https://bitcoinbestbuy.com/ , it describes everything in detail, however I would like to hear real feedback and advice. Read the article and maybe your opinion will change

By the way, maybe someone can help me here? Is someone already investing in this forum?

[1stindoor]

Originally Posted by Daniel8

I disagree with you. I think bitcoin has a good future. I want to try to make money on bitcoins. Many people are doing this. I want to learn more about all the pitfalls. I found the article https://bitcoinbestbuy.com/ , it describes everything in detail, however I would like to hear real feedback and advice. Read the article and maybe your opinion will change

By the way, maybe someone can help me here? Is someone already investing in this forum?

You're in luck!...I can help you....do you know what else has a good future here?....folks that follow the rules on where they make their very first post.

[Daniel8]

Originally Posted by 1stindoor

You're in luck!...I can help you....do you know what else has a good future here?....folks that follow the rules on where they make their very first post.

I will be glad of your help. What information should I study before buying bitcoin?
Maybe you know?

[1stindoor]

Originally Posted by Daniel8

I will be glad of your help. What information should I study before buying bitcoin?
Maybe you know?

You're a moron and a troll...go away. I'm done trying to help you find your way. At some point you'll be shown the door.

[Pete]

Daniel8 is getting real close.

[Team Sergeant]

Originally Posted by Daniel8

I disagree with you. I think bitcoin has a good future. I want to try to make money on bitcoins. Many people are doing this. I want to learn more about all the pitfalls. I found the article https://bitcoinbestbuy.com/ , it describes everything in detail, however I would like to hear real feedback and advice. Read the article and maybe your opinion will change

By the way, maybe someone can help me here? Is someone already investing in this forum?

Bitcoin, uses, 5% legitimate, 95% criminal. Not too bright are you.

[Flagg]

Originally Posted by Team Sergeant

Bitcoin, uses, 5% legitimate, 95% criminal. Not too bright are you.

It would certainly be true that most/possibly all Fortune 500 Bitcoin accounts were originally created in order to pay ransomware demands. \

But major banks are investing heavily in blockchain(the underlying tech of Bitcoin) and hiring like mad for blockchain SMEs.

Blockchain related tech boom over the next 20 years will ultimately be bigger than the ecommerce boom of the last 20 years in my opinion.

Young folks in particular who possess some understanding of inflation and tech investment risk haven't been wrong in placing a small slice of their limited liquid net worth into blockchain based cryptocurrencies as a hedge against crushing inflation.

It may seem more risky from a US dollar perspective, but form a global perspective, blockchain cryptocurrency is going to be huge.

Although in the last week the majors have taken a big hit due to China banning all ICOs(cryptocurrency coin offerings) until it can develop regulation.

China has arguably been the blockchain leader, but may have just given Silicon Valley an artificial advantage.

Ethereum, ranked behind Bitcoin in market cap but with more built in design potential has risen 50x in the last 12 months.

Quite a speculative bubble, but not unlike the original dot com boom of the 90s, nothing moves up in a straight line, there's lots of pain along the way until the long term party.

I can't tell you what will happen with cryptocurrencies in the short to medium term, but they will(along with the underlying blockchain) have a fundamental impact on all of us over the next 20 years with massive fortunes to be made.

Hardware wallets such as this one will help reduce risk:

https://allthingsdecentral.com/produ...SABEgLqEfD_BwE

And I think multi factor digital authentication such as Estonia's E-residency program will also play a role in reducing risk:

https://e-resident.gov.ee

[TJ11B]

I think people might be better off investing in silver & gold or brass & lead IMHO.

[bblhead672]

Originally Posted by TJ11B

I think people might be better off investing in silver & gold or brass & lead IMHO.

I agree

Trader of valuable things: "So what do you have to exchange for this food and water?"

Desperate survivor: "I have bitcoins."

Trader of valuable things: "Ha, ha, ha, ha. No, really what do you have of value? Get out of here."