i got to thinking about this today:
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/is-it-dangerous-to-not-use-tor-with-bitcoin-144295
and now i'm thinking about the exchanges. couldn't someone just go to mark's house or office with a gun and demand the coin (reserve wallet) be transferred to him/her?
because there is no government that will step in and save us, we'd lose all the money, potentially millions of dollars.
mark, do you guys have trained security staff, armed guards etc (not that this would protect you)
it almost seems like the exchanges have to go anonymous and underground if the market cap keeps increasing. tor hidden service perhaps?
the fine balance between anonymity and "public" is going to be a really interesting point with bitcoin. on the one hand, people don't trust anonymous services. but on the other hand, with something non-reversible like bitcoin, they're almost better served by anonymity.
interesting!
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/is-it-dangerous-to-not-use-tor-with-bitcoin-144295
and now i'm thinking about the exchanges. couldn't someone just go to mark's house or office with a gun and demand the coin (reserve wallet) be transferred to him/her?
because there is no government that will step in and save us, we'd lose all the money, potentially millions of dollars.
mark, do you guys have trained security staff, armed guards etc (not that this would protect you)
it almost seems like the exchanges have to go anonymous and underground if the market cap keeps increasing. tor hidden service perhaps?
the fine balance between anonymity and "public" is going to be a really interesting point with bitcoin. on the one hand, people don't trust anonymous services. but on the other hand, with something non-reversible like bitcoin, they're almost better served by anonymity.
interesting!
ok each country is different. but seeing as most people on the forums are american. lets take a stab at it.
ok banks, and other FIAT investment companies as part of their obligations to be regulated, need to pay the FDIC (an insurance company) to ensure that depositors are covered upto a balance of $250,000
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Deposit_Insurance_Corporation
the government dont just hand out money to a regulated entity purely because they lost cash, they are insured because the entity pays an insurance premium....
same goes for bitcoin. most places like MTGOX do/should have a set amount of buildings/content insurance and declare a set amount up for their assets.
and of course employee, personal life insurance, to cover any gun wielding theives.
after all:
it is also still a crime to steal anything whether it be digital documents, chickens, rice, art work.
it is also still a crime to hold someone hostage
it is also still a crime to use a gun in a threatening manner.
so why say bitcoin thefts are not insured or criminal?
many insurance companies would be very tough on paying out. in many countries the use of a PIN number of an ATM card, by criminals to withdraw funds fraudulently would not in some cases not be repaid, purely on the bases of the pin number being made public enough for it to have been used, that the owner did not use any security precautions to prevent the crime.
EG
1.pickpocket crimes where the criminal watched over the victim whilst entering their pin number, then stealing their card
2.leaving your online bank logged in with no passworded screensaver(local theft) or antivirus software(remote theft)
plus many other easily google-able search results that show when banks dont pay out.
banks dont just pay out simply because you scream "i have been robbed". they have policies that if an amount is small (chargeback/ATM daily limit criteria) where doing a full investigation would be more costly then the loss, they would only do a micro investigation to weigh up the possibilities that the money missing is genuine/preventable. based mainly on the statement of the victim, as to how the loss occurred.
bitinstant and mtgox have FDIC insurance policies for the FIAT, there is nothing stopping them having other insurance company policies to cover their property(bitcoin), apart from how to word the policies.
but in the end if someone came into the bitinstant offices with a face mask and a gun, then having a panic alarm system linked directly to the police is more important then bitcoin insurance policies.
a savvy insurance company that is not the FDIC would see bitcoin as a lucrative market to start making fixed policies dedicated/worded for bitcoin. instead of the headache of using private insurance companies that mtgox/bitinstant/etc currently use/should be using where insurance companies treat bitcoin as a product, much like retail/contents insurance using customised policies tailored to fit the current bitcoin system.
and by this i don't mean a 17yo basement dweller starting up a bitcoin insurance company would be advisable. i mean an actual insurance institution that already has all the laws under its belt, would see bitcoin as a great new insurance policy category to offer.
much like fixed insurance policies worded directly for art work, J-Lo's buttocks, etc.
