

The Feds Are Cracking Down On Mt. Gox, Not On Bitcoin - austengary
http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2013/05/15/the-feds-are-cracking-down-on-mt-gox-not-on-bitcoin/?utm_campaign=forbestwittersf&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social

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pyre

      | Bank of America refused to send a transfer
      | to the Japanese account
    

It's a little off-topic (from the meat of the article), but why? Is this just
a part of some generic BoA policy, or something specific to the account?

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nikcub
Right on topic. It may be only a little sidenote in the article, but that is
an interesting revelation that is worth investigating further.

It is very strange for a bank to not allow a standard wire to an international
account. A refusal with no real reason could be because there is a Justice
Department sealed order to not allow money transfers into Mt Gox, or it could
be a simple mistake.

Only one way to find out - ask Bank of America.

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zby
(And not on Mt. Gox but on Mutum Sigillum - a subsidiary) Gox still works OK -
all wires to and from Mt. Gox work with the only exception of the path from
Dwolla through Mutum Sigillum.

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adventured
This is the go after the ammo strategy (gun control reference). The Feds could
never literally stop Bitcoin, but they can endlessly assault the Bitcoin
network via the global banking infrastructure that Bitcoin requires to
function properly (currency exchanges, bank transfers and wires, and so on).
In doing so they'll drive up the cost of the Bitcoin network to the end users,
making it less appealing.

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betterunix
There are quite a few Bitcoin supporters who believe that an independent
Bitcoin economy is possible and that Bitcoin can survive without exchanges. I
guess this will be a small test of that theory...

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drcode
Sure, you can just sell cupcakes for bitcoins without a single dollar changing
hands, but then the feds will just shut down your cupcake shop.

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tomsthumb
How would that work?

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notdrunkatall
Let's hope we don't get the opportunity to find out.

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wellboy
First, all my bitcoins in bitcoin-24.com got frozen, then in bitfloor and now
the same thing will happen to mtgox?? Seriously, it took a month until I could
access them again. Good that I know better now, because now I will withdraw
all my bitcoins from mtgox immediately and transfer to coinbase...

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joezydeco
I'm getting mine out of MtGox and keeping them in an offline paper wallet. I
would not hold them in ANY online wallet these days, _especially_ Coinbase,
given their recent problems.

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wellboy
Is there a wallet that is in the cloud and safe of being shut down, because
what if my hard drive crashes?

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stinkytaco
Backup? Paper wallet?

Really, there's just no reason to keep all your bitcoins any one place. Keep a
couple in an online wallet for convenience, some on your hard drive for quick
access, some on your phone and some in paper wallets. Or spread them across
multiple computers. The flexibility is part of the appeal.

