Topic: Bitstamp now needs 18,000 bitcoins to get back to where they were (Read 1881 times)

+1.. bitchstamp isn't stupid to just run wild and start panic buying that's what noobs do

no, must be cash in their mattresses 

A valuation that is bound to go down the drain now.

it is wealth, which most  probably includes bitstamp valuation - not liquid assets or cash.

the bitstamp owners have funds far beyond my expactations: http://www.siol.net/novice/gospodarstvo/2014/11/lestvica_najbogatejsih_slovencev.aspx

(scroll down to # 43  )

Perhaps the hacker will do a deal with stamp to return the coins for a %.

Looks like people will be getting their money back though, what do stamp have to gain assuming they reopen as normal.

There's already analysis being done on the address. Likely Bitstamp is monitoring it as well. I wonder if he'll try to make a run for it and tumble them quickly.

Either way, those 18,000 are now frozen in a single address unless the hacker can come up with some ingenious way of cashing them out without being tracked.

That is almost like burning 18,000 bitcoins. Definitely bullish.

they could buy them from me, but my coins are stuck in slovenia.

All they need to do, and probably all they can do is fix the hole and re-open. This will IMO not be an overnight fix, especially if police are involved and a full investigation is required. Not sure how you do this whilst operating the exchange, even if you have found and fixed the attack vector.
Meanwhile, some, fearing the worst, could lose patience and sell. Hell, Stamp might even make a profit on the whole thing (EDIT : not 'profit', but  lose less than reported by buying cheaper than price at time of theft ). All it takes is a margin cascade at BFX and bingo, Stamp has plenty of coins to buy. I am sure that is one of the calls that has been made. Not in a conspiracy way, but in a 'we would buy the coins from any forced sellers'.

Where did that 10k of bids disappear to from BFX? Yesterday I would have said we looked vulnerable to a short squeeze. Now I think the longs should be equally concerned. This could escalate very quickly, but at least we know there is probably an extra buyer down below.

Just a story, like all the rest of the speculation here, but another way they might acquire the coins and why IMO there is no pressure for them to do anything in a hurry. They could probably afford to wait for the next SR auction. Pretty sure we will see the USMS back again before we reach $500. Yup, would cost a bit more, but they can afford it and its better than disrupting the market more than they already have.
As has been said, if there was a run, they could likely borrow as many coins as they need from multiple sources.

One thing they will not be doing is panic buying. That's what people here do  

What are you talking about? The US feds still have 90-100k BTC to sell. Plus, MtGox's 200k BTC may be liquidated.

Not that this has much to do with Bitstamp's current need. My guess is they already had a good chunk of BTC by the side themselves. I think Pantera holds Bitcoin as well, and they have the means and experience to acquire larger sums of BTC on the OTC market.

Most probably, when they open, there will be a bank run and BTC is gonna be requested. Doubtful that all the 200k from their cold will be withdrawn, but it is theoretically possible, and then they will have to buy in a hurry, yes. Even if, in a case of reassuring resolution (i.e. they will state that everybody will be paid in full and they will remain fully solvent) that bank run will be very limited, they will still need to buy those coins somewhere -- because they definitely will be audited. As there are no more auctions and the sum is a little bit too large for an OTC market, probably one of chinese big three will have to help here.

>relatively open
Stress on "relatively."  Compared to BTC-e--yes, compared to a real financial institution--not even close.

>if you own a boat that has a hole in it
Boats carrying valuable cargo have hulls divided into watertight compartments, which could be easily sealed off under full steam.  If the breach is truly catastrophic (Titanic), stopping in the middle of the ocean won't help--abandon ship.
Nice analogy tho, the parallels with interwebs security are hard to miss

They should activate willybot 2.0 to make back the money lost.
Then some will profit from the coming fake rise and most, who don't understand the specifics of the game, will lose their money

I would love to see where you get that information from. Bitstamp has been relatively open about their reserves for exactly this reason, consumer confidence.

And about the hacking again theory; if you own a boat that has a hole in it, you don't let it sink to the bottom, you plug the hole and move on. Finding and fixing the leak is exactly why they have suspended their systems.

You have no proof, don't ya?
Maybe closing the security hole that allowed them to be hacked?

Bitstamp have been running a fractional reserve for years. This hack story is an obvious lie, copied from Karpeles. During the next weeks we'll learn about Stamp's insolvency. Then they'll declare bankruptcy, and all your precious coins and fiat will be lost.

And if the story was true: What's stopping the thieves from hacking them again, stealing even more?

You don't understand.  People invest $$$ so that money can be put to work, not to be held in a bank account.



Absurd.  That's what VCs do--high-risk, high reward investments.  Pantera Capital is not some 1% pension fund.  From Pantera's site:  "Pantera Capital is a Bitcoin investment firm focused exclusively on Bitcoin, other digital currencies and companies in the space."

This is another option. The owners ponying up their on Bitcoin stash to cover it.

Their investors paid them in fiat so I would imagine they have to keep most of their profits in fiat. And Bitcoin is not quite at the stage yet where large companies can hold them. They are stuck with old technology when it comes to multiple people having access to the accounts.