Recently, a breach in Bitcoin wallets caused Bitstamp to go down temporarily as they were dealing with their issues. The exchange had to put a hold on all deposits and withdrawals from their service as their wallets were breached, resulting in a loss of almost 19,000 bitcoins by the end of the situation. According to reports, that’s about 12% of all of the exchange’s reserves of the currency, and it didn’t take long before public trust in the service started to shake.
Mt Gox happened not long ago, and Bitcoin users still remember it – and the main topic around Bitcoin forums recently has been the comparison between Mt Gox and Bitstamp. However, some have been quick to point out that the similarities between the two situations actually aren’t that many – for one thing, Bitstamp have been handling their problems much more transparently, alerting the public of the loss and giving updates on when the exchange would go back online. Subsequently, the service was restored, and a brief explanation was provided to its users to address the issue.
Bitcoin price has continued to go down in the meantime, although it’s hard to say if this was affected in any way by Bitstamp’s issues, or if it’s just a continuation of an already established trend from the last few days. At the same time, the 19,000 Bitcoins that were stolen from Bitstamp during their downtime will have to enter the market at some point if their new owners want to earn something from it – and $5 million in stolen money circulating the economy certainly can’t be good for it in the short term.
Experts have also been pointing out that mining Bitcoins has been becoming less and less viable, to the point where it’s not even worth the electricity used in the process anymore. In order for any real mining to be done, users have to purchase expensive equipment and go to great lengths to set up their own farming stations, something that takes a bit of dedication and of course a lot of money, not to mention reading guides and regular news on the subject.
According to most, the proper way to invest in Bitcoin right now is to just buy into the currency itself, instead of spending money on mining equipment that may or may not continue to bring in any significant profits in the foreseeable future. On the other hand, keeping a careful eye on the market can be a good way to make good profits from Bitcoin trading, although it does require some patience, and of course, lots of research into how Bitcoin works, and how financial markets work in general.