Bitcoin site is hacked, with $1million of the virtual currency stolen

Nov 12, 2013 By Henrik Palmgren | redice.tv

Bitcoin, an online decentralized currency, is a method of exchanging digital money without the usual regulations, policing or taxation (for now).

It’s been reported that a major hack of a Bitcoin site has occurred, stripping one user of more than a million virtual dollars. This hack and theft serves as a reminder that digital currencies are as vulnerable as other currencies, and perhaps even more so as the movements are designed to be anonymous and are largely untraceable.

With the announcement that Bitcoin was installing ATMs in several locations to allow for digital money to become ’real’ money that you put in your wallet, the future of the Bitcoin currency is becoming a reality on the streets, with people using Bitcoins to as easily donate to charities around the world as pay for a cup of coffee on the way to work.

News of the hack and theft has affected the reputation of Bitcoin with users wondering at the security of their online funds, but this isn’t the first blow the digital currency has suffered:

Because they are untraceable and unregulated, bitcoins have garnered a reputation as a convenient way for criminals to move money across borders undetected. Last month, U.S. authorities shut down Silk Road, a billion-dollar website that sold drugs, weapons and fake IDs for bitcoins. Source

Are these legitimate concerns, or are all these troubles part of an attack by financial big boys (banks, governments, intelligence agencies) who don’t want their system undermined?

You pays your money, you takes your chances.

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Australian bitcoin user TradeFortress says site hacked, $1 million in virtual currency stolen
| ABC NEWS

A young Australian entrepreneur says his bitcoin website has been hacked and thieves have stolen more than $1 million in virtual currency.

Unlike old currencies bitcoin is digital, traded computer-to-computer, and often used to pay for goods and services on the internet.

But it has no central authority or government-based backing, and the alleged theft - one of the largest in the currency’s four-year history - raises questions about digital money and if it can ever be regulated.

A bitcoin user who calls himself TradeFortress says more than 4,100 bitcoins worth about $1.1 million have been robbed from his website.

The stolen bitcoins are owned by the users of his website, who had trusted their bitcoins to him.

TradeFortress, who says he is not much older than 18, does not want to be identified because he is worried about his personal safety.

He and his users know the chances of getting their bitcoins back are extremely unlikely because bitcoin transactions cannot be reversed.

The bitcoin transaction trail is designed to be anonymous, which has led to speculation this was an inside job and that TradeFortress took the coins for

But when asked by the ABC’s AM he strenuously denied those accusations, and said that despite his $1 million loss he is unlikely to report the theft to the police.himself.

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Read the full article at: abc.net.au