Mt. Gox is Dead. Amateur Hour is Over. Time to Get Professional.

Mt. Gox is dead, and my last comments were overly optimistic and incomplete.

I have changed my mind about Mt. Gox now that there is evidence that Mt. Gox may have mishandled and possibly lost hundreds of millions of dollars of Bitcoin. I should have also mentioned earlier that I only trusted Mt. Gox with a small percentage of my own Bitcoin. While it was still being touted as the largest and most trusted exchange, Mt Gox seemed clunky and was having issues for months before I put a comparatively small amount of money into the exchange.

Bitcoin enthusiasts meet at The Grand Park Downtown Los Angeles

Coinbase, on the other hand, was implementing all of the best practices of banks and Paypal, only better.  With top advisors of Andreessen Horowitz, Coinbase was obviously more professional, easy to use, and had integration with U.S. banks and credit cards.  It was obvious to me that any individual wallet was subject to fraud and attack.  Along with Coinbase, I stuck money in many other wallets.  That proved to make all of the difference.

MtGox has never been worth recommending to U.S. residents as long as I’ve been buying Bitcoin over the past 11 months.  The best places to buy Bitcoin in the U.S. are localbitcoins.com (for a more private purchase of Bitcoin) and coinbase.com (for a more U.S. Government-approved purchase of Bitcoin).  Buyers, sellers, developers and enthusiasts also get together by way of Meetup.com.

Coinbase and Localbitcoins come with their own reliable wallets.  Other so far reliable wallets include: Bitcoin QT (Android phone – back it up, and do not lose your phone), Bitcoin QT (Macbook took me a month to install and update for some reason.  Maybe it is good that it is fully in sync), Blockchain.info My Wallet, Bitminter (for Bitcoin mining), easywallet.org (no login required, but theoretically less secure),  cloudhashing.com (for mining using remote hosting).  Coinbase has a simple tool to move Bitcoin to paper.

The main lesson is to keep your Bitcoin spread out in many wallets. The old adage holds true with Bitcoin: “Don’t keep all of your eggs in one basket.”  Don’t keep all of your Bitcoin in one wallet.

Corey Chambers, The Bitcoin Blogs

Mark T. Williams recently wrote a negative article about Bitcoin called “Bitcoin is Not Yet Ready for the Real World” at http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/01/24/bitcoin-is-not-yet-ready-for-the-real-world/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0

Bitcoin Not Yet Ready for Prime Time?

It is downright odd that an academic like Mark T. Williams would write an article about the real world.  It’s a bit low quality for The New York Times to allow such a contradiction.  Eventually, the NY Times will get wise and realize that the Bitcoin articles written by journalists and academics who lack technical knowledge are writing articles that are less than helpful.

First of all, Bitcoin is already being used in the real world, with more and more users and merchants beginning to work with the digital currency every day.  Today there are more than 12 million Bitcoins in circulation worldwide, with a market capitalization of $11 billion.  More than 50,000 transactions occur each day.

Bitcoin has the best reputation of all digital currencies.  It’s reputation was improved after the FBI’s takedown of Silk Road proved that Bitcoin does not protect illegal operations.  In fact, the permanent public ledger can be used to help deter crime.  The U.S. dollar still reigns supreme for use in worldwide money laundering and other crime.  Bitcoin is hardly a blip on the radar regarding crime.  News reports continue almost daily about Bitcoin’s adoption by sellers of luxury cars, space flights, online retail and, this week, Las Vegas casinos.

After the enormous security breach by Target that released millions of personal records, credit cards are the object of increased scrutiny and doubt.  Unlike credit cards, Bitcoin prevents the unwanted release of personal data because it contains none.

Bitcoin has risen top in use because it is the first digital currency that really works.  It is more valuable than nearly every currency in the world because it is useful and rare.  It’s rarity makes it extra valuable, and a tremendously successful store of value.  It has proven to be an amazing asset, and one of the best performing investments in history, averaging a gain of around 2% per day for four years.  That payoff helped lead to huge adoption rates and superior network effect.

Bitcoin transactions are permanent and irrevocable.  They do not offer the consumer protection of credit cards, but Bitcoin offers superior value for consumers who wish to conduct transactions that are not controlled or charged by a third party.  Bitcoin is therefore cheaper to use, more cost effective for merchants, and allow for cheaper products and services for consumers.  Bitcoin will allow for instant electronic purchase of countless items not possible today, such as real estate transactions and other transactions where inconvenient cashiers checks and costly wire transfers were once necessary.

Bitcoin transactions fall under much of the same regulation as fiat money transactions.  Bitcoin’s programming provides superior regulation in many ways, making Bitcoin a more egalitarian currency.

As the world’s largest distributed computational network, Bitcoin is based on a ledger that can be used for verification/authentication of countless items from college transcripts to real estate titles, legal documents to gold bullion.  With the power to create more complex programmed transactions, Wall Street will find digital currencies to be indispensable.  The future of Bitcoin involves far more than money.

Bitcoin is indeed ready for the real world.  It’s use increases every day.  The future of Bitcoin is extremely bright.

Bitcoin does have down sides.  Read TheBitcoinBlogs.com to learn how to get the most out of Bitcoin while protecting yourself.

Corey Chambers, The Bitcoin Blogs

The Bitcoin Blogs

The Bitcoin Blogs – Bitcoin Mining, Buy and Sell Bitcoin

I’m a Downtown Los Angeles real estate professional, entrepreneur, Libertarian and economics buff. I have been investing in Bitcoin, and recently started mining. I’ve seen exciting results, and want to help others get started with Bitcoin.

Besides being a superior currency based on today’s digital technologies, Bitcoin is also an exciting new investment opportunity, and the future of payments and currencies.

I first hear about Bitcoin on CNBC television in 2008.  They mentioned it for just a few seconds, and I did not even hear or remember the name Bitcoin.  When they discussed it again nearly 4 years later, I heard, remembered and bought some Bitcoin.

I have had the opportunity to meet others who are interested in Bitcoin, economics and investments.  I’ve met some very impressive people such as Andreas M. Antonopoulos and other Bitcoin innovators.

Today as I write this blog, Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox is scaring everyone with their Bitcoin lockdown.

Mt Gox will probably never again be able to regain its title as top Bitcoin exchange, but it will survive and and swim out of its current drowning state.  Mt Gox’s whirlpool of death started a long time ago. Other Bitcoin exchanges and merchants are doing better than ever. Take every opportunity to buy low now and then start to sell high after Bitcoin begins to be mature. There is one simple word to watch for to determine when to sell. I will mention that one important word soon in my blogs.

Corey Chambers, The Bitcoin Blogs