Down the Rabbit Hole

(First published March 11, 2014 @ 05:44)   I don’t want to dwell on this Bitcoin fiasco because our goal is to educate without bias, BUT…The Mt. Gox Bitcoin exchange in Tokyo declared bankruptcy Friday Feb. 28/14. Its chief executive said 850,000 Bitcoins, worth several hundred million dollars, are unaccounted for or missing in action if you will.Bowing deeply the exchange CEO Mark Karpeles appeared before Japanese TV news cameras. No doubt if you’re involved in Bitcoin either as a speculator or owner, you’re bowing deeply too… with lower bowel cramps!Supposedly a weakness in the exchange’s computer systems was behind a massive loss of Bitcoin virtual currency. The amounts involved are 750,000 Bitcoins from users and 100,000 of the company’s own Bitcoins. That would amount to about $473 million Cdn at recent prices. Jesus H. Christ!The online exchange’s unplugging earlier that week and accusations it had suffered a catastrophic theft are bound to draw renewed regulatory attention, don’t you think?Bitcoin is a currency created in 2009 as a way to make transactions across borders without third parties such as banks, governments and fees. Good luck at escaping regulation now with folks losing millions in REAL currency.It’s still not clear if the missing Bitcoins were stolen, voided by flawed Mt. Gox technology or both. Either way, it’ll be tough to redeem for cash a virtual currency having virtually disappeared. This is why I’m SO against Bitcoins as a currency for speculation.Karpeles, a Frenchman, told a Tokyo court “I am sorry for the troubles I have caused all the people.”Karpeles hadn’t made a public appearance since rumors of the exchange’s insolvency surfaced in January/14. In a web post as late as Wednesday he said he was working to resolve Mt. Gox’s problems.Taro Aso, Japan’s finance minister believed the Bitcoin collapse was inevitable. Just hours before the bankruptcy filing he told the press “No one recognizes Bitcoin as a real currency,” and “I expected such a thing to collapse.”Small comfort to your peace of mind if you were caught up in this. In my opinion stay away, no matter how good it looks from the outside,. It’s not real. But the money you exchanged to own Bitcoin WAS real and now rests in the hands of an unknown someone.Those poor souls trying to avoid oversight lost their money dealing in an unregulated underground virtual currency. Now starts the whining and crying foul seeking Government compensation. Human nature at its best.Japan’s financial regulators have been reluctant to intervene in the Mt. Gox situation, logically saying they don’t have jurisdiction over something that’s not a real currency.They suggested disgruntled owners of their evaporating Bitcoin visit with the Consumer Affairs Agency which deals with product safety. Sort of like where you’d go if your Iphone battery blew up and burnt your ears off.The agency’s minister Masako Mori urged extreme caution about using or investing in Bitcoins. The agency has been deluged with calls about Bitcoins since earlier this year.“We’re at a loss for how to help them,” said Yuko Otsuki, who works in the agency’s counselling department.Those who believe in Bitcoin will probably see this loss as a giant setback to the currency’s image. Boosters have promoted Bitcoin’s cryptography as protecting it from counterfeiting and theft.Bitcoin proponents have insisted that Mt. Gox is an isolated case, caused by the company’s technological failures, and the potential of virtual currencies remains great. As we now know, it certainly isn’t isolated at all.Debts at Mt. Gox totaled more than 6.5 billion yen (about $70.9 million Cdn), surpassing its assets, according to the bankruptcy monitoring Teikoku Databank.For me, the closest thing I want to know about Tokyo is how their Yen is trading against any other legitimate currency. Trying to escape bank fees and government regulation cost these people the most expensive spread imaginable… the speculation of their hard earned REAL money paired against a non-existent currency.What a trade. Your potential loss is everything you turn over as soon as you slip your real dollars into that ‘miner’s’ account or your downtown Bitcoin ATM coming soon to a coffee shop near you.The Saga Continues…

Still Weaving a Tangled Web

https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/28/investing/bitcoin-prices/index.html

My opinion hasn’t changed all these years later. That’s not to say there haven’t been millions made and lost in this market I refuse to accept as real. And it’s not sour grapes as you might think. Now I would accept the arguement I’ve let my preduduces cloud my speculative judgement and that would be true. I mean does it really matter what the instrument is if it returns a profit.  I submit ‘yes it does’ if what we’re talking about goes against everything you believe to be true. Too many reasons to go into here, but at the minimum speculation for me has to be based on an underlying commodity, has to be regulated and has to have third party scrutiny for me to accept it as legitimate.