# Another Bitcoin Exchange Hacked and Crashes **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 7, 2014, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-bitcoin-exchange-hacked-and-crashes/683133 "2014-03-07T18:25:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2014, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-bitcoin-exchange-hacked-and-crashes/683133/21 "2014-03-10T15:43:14Z")
> [@AaronX](#): > > I thought the cryptographic nature of Bitcoin meant it was immune to attack. Is this insufficient security, or is BC insecure? Different kind of attack. Think of the analogous situation as printed currency that absolutely cannot be forged. A thief can still steal the physical notes. Ditto bitcoins. Little intrinsically to do with bitcoins. Though some of the philosophy behind it means there’s no deposit insurance and little regulation of the banks themselves. ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2014, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-bitcoin-exchange-hacked-and-crashes/683133/22 "2014-03-10T15:45:05Z")
But there’s nothing physical in the exchange. And aren’t all transactions logged? In fact, if BCs are serialized, can’t they blacklist the stolen coins, like they do with banknotes? Seems crypto currency has lots of features they’re not using. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2014, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-bitcoin-exchange-hacked-and-crashes/683133/23 "2014-03-10T15:49:15Z")
This is why I keep all of my coins inside various blocks of brick and concrete down in the sewer. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2014, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-bitcoin-exchange-hacked-and-crashes/683133/24 "2014-03-10T16:08:05Z")
> [@AaronX](#): > > But there’s nothing physical in the exchange. And aren’t all transactions logged? > > In fact, if BCs are serialized, can’t they blacklist the stolen coins, like they do with banknotes? It’s more like gold. By design, there’s a finite number of bitcoins. Taking any out of circulation would be bad. Banknotes eventually make their way to a central bank where they can be removed from circulation and replaced. There’s no central bitcoin government bank, nor can they be replaced. Also, you’d have to have everybody agree to blacklist them. There’s no central bank or government regulation. This is by design. There’s no enforcement ability. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2014, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-bitcoin-exchange-hacked-and-crashes/683133/25 "2014-03-10T16:10:59Z")
Do bitcoins really exist though? I was under the impression that whatever bitcoins you could be said to own are a sum of the transactions you’ve in- and output. An address or transaction id could be blacklisted but the bitcoins themselves are just a quantity. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2014, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-bitcoin-exchange-hacked-and-crashes/683133/26 "2014-03-10T16:15:59Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > It’s more like gold. By design, there’s a finite number of bitcoins. Taking any out of circulation would be bad. But when a bunch of gold is taken out of circulation, doesn’t the price go _up_ usually? ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2014, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-bitcoin-exchange-hacked-and-crashes/683133/27 "2014-03-10T16:18:17Z")
The way I understand BCs work, you’d only need to get half the processing power to agree to blacklist the coins. Thieves could also amass enough processing power and take over all transactions. Having a limited number of coins is a problem. Can’t they reverse the transactions? ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2014, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-bitcoin-exchange-hacked-and-crashes/683133/28 "2014-03-10T16:20:32Z")
> [@Esox\_Lucius](#): > > Is there a chance that The Powers That Be orchestrated this to protect the traditional system of exchange in use now? Or should I be wearing a tinfoil hat when I think of that? Well, if national governments can squash BitCoin like a bug, then it won’t work very well as an alternative to national currencies, will it? This is like libertarians complaining that governments have taken over the whole planet, so there’s no place on Earth you can go to live as a free man. Yes, governments have taken over the planet, that’s the whole point! Libertarians systems have to be able to work around fascists and statists and militarists, if they can’t deal with actually existing government cops and prisons and judges and soldiers and bureaucrats then they’re useless. This is like blaming the failure of our moon base on the unfairness of gravity. Yes, it’s unfair that we can’t just jump really hard and land on the moon. Yes, it’s unfair that there are a lot of organized gangsters who call themselves governments. Sure is. So now what? ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2014, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-bitcoin-exchange-hacked-and-crashes/683133/29 "2014-03-10T16:24:21Z")
> [@AaronX](#): > > Having a limited number of coins is a problem. Can’t they reverse the transactions? Only if the people who have received the bitcoins agree to send them back. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2014, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-bitcoin-exchange-hacked-and-crashes/683133/30 "2014-03-10T16:31:48Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > But when a bunch of gold is taken out of circulation, doesn’t the price go _up_ usually? That implies a natural fiat currency, say dollars. But say we’re on the gold standard. Taking gold entirely out of a gold backed currency and destroying the gold is usually a bad idea. If you’re on the dollar, that’s not a problem. You adjust the price of bitcoins relative to the dollar. But if your currency is the bitcoin itself (or backed by bitcoins), you’ve got problems if the limited supply of bitcoins is further limited any time there’s a theft. While I doubt we’re all switching to bitcoins over dollars anytime soon, it does pose a problem to be overcome for anybody who wants to switch away from a fiat currency to one backed by bitcoin. ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2014, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-bitcoin-exchange-hacked-and-crashes/683133/31 "2014-03-11T15:39:35Z")
> [@Esox\_Lucius](#): > > Is there a chance that The Powers That Be orchestrated this to protect the traditional system of exchange in use now? Or should I be wearing a tinfoil hat when I think of that? I don’t think that’s out of the realm of possibility. When the Tea Party embraces bitcoins…then you’ll see some orchestrating ! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-bitcoin-exchange-hacked-and-crashes/683133.md?page=1)