The price of bitcoin has risen from yesterday… Another ten dollars at the time of this writing, thereby placing the price at around $245…
In the midst of this good news, however, I’m not so sure if we should be celebrating or if we should still be worried. The price of bitcoin has jumped about $20 over the last two weeks, and while this is indeed a refreshing sign for most, there are several problems currently running amok in the bitcoin community.
Between the recent string of hackings on BTER, Excoin and HitBTC that have caused probably millions of dollars in bitcoins to disappear, it may be a little too early to break out the champagne. It seems to me that security is a huge issue right now, and the question I often ask myself is, “What can we do?” I am not an IT expert, and thus I cannot make any suggestions about what to do in situations like this. How could such a string of attacks occur? Furthermore, how could they still be occurring? The havoc isn’t quite over yet. As I reported yesterday, exchanges such as Huobi and Shapeshift.io have now reported security breaches, and the attacks all appear to be related (though evidence suggesting so is currently limited).
It’s times like these when bitcoin and digital currency distrust really grows, and while I hate to admit it, I really can’t blame people for their fears when they witness events like these. I often wonder if these kinds of circumstances will eventually lead to the death of everyone’s favorite cryptocurrency, and while it may be a little too early to tell, several feel that bitcoin doesn’t have much of a future ahead. Companies such as Bitreserve, for example, are going so far as to say bitcoin will be gone in a number of years, and you can’t help wondering… Do they have a point?
What do you all think? Will continual attacks such as those on BTER, Excoin and HitBTC eventually lead to bitcoin’s end? Or will the digital currency stand strong? Post your thoughts and comments below.
