What happened with BitCoin?

[greentea]

Can someone explain to me what exactly happened with BitCoin?

[Tabs]

Looks like I can't post links yet.

Long story short, Mt. Gox, one of bitcoin's major currency exchange company (that is also holding all of your bitcoin currency) is down right now. No trades, no withdraws, no exchanging the bitcoins to something else like cash.

Bitcoin values are plummeting as a result, and bitcoiners are freaking out right now.

While I'm here, I do think that digital currency holds a promising glimpse of things to come, but for right now, it's still the wild wild west.

[GrimJack]

Can someone explain to me what exactly happened with BitCoin?

Mt. Gox had a serious bug in its security software; you could ask for your $20k in bitcoins, get them, and ask for them again and get them again, and again for about 5 years before someone realized what was going on. That company was not paying attention. Theoretically, each and every bit-coin is traceable so they will probably track the person or persons responsible. Most of the modern BitCoin banks are much more secure. Will BitCoin itself survive this? Who knows, probably but if not something else will take its place.

[Tabs]

To continue on what GrimJack said, there are already lots of other digital currencies out there. My personal favorite is DogeCoin, but that's because I currently view this as more of a hobby than a serious financial endeavor.

Also know that some of the protocols for digital currencies have already gone open-source. So from a technological point of view anyway, this isn't anything new. In fact, I think it originated from hash signature encryption, so it's more like... old as dirt as far as the tech goes.

What's new is people actually recognizing and embracing one of its protocols, and using it as a currency!

On and for a fun tidbit, do you guys know what Mt. Gox really stands for? It's short for Magic The Gathering Online Xchange. Yes. It certainly has a nice, reputable ring to it, wouldn't you say?

Anyway, don't be surprised if digital currency really does catch on as an international currency some day. The technology is already there, and the benefits are clear (to tech enthusiasts anyway). All it would take now is someone with serious reputation and major backing to step up and make it available and acceptable mainstream. And before you doubt it, just think about how most of our currency is now digital already. I myself rarely carry cash.