Compromised account results in massive Bitcoin unload, EFF reconsiders use of currency

Bitcoin, for those not aware, is an entirely digital currency — one where exchanges between people are largely anonymous and secured through cryptography, and one who has seen its hype-meter burst off the charts in recent months. That, inevitably, has had some people watching for a fall, and it took a massive one this week. While things have since bounced back, the price of the currency at the so-called Mt. Gox exchange dropped from around $17.50 to only one cent in an issue of moments through the early hours of June 20th — a drop that’s since been attributed to a compromised account. Because of a regular withdrawal limit, however, that apparently only led to $1,000 actually being stolen, and a claims process has now been manage for those affected.

While indirectly relating to the unload, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (or EFF ) also dealt a little bit a blow to the upstart currency this week, when it announced that it will not be accepting Bitcoin donations. In accordance with the organization, that’s both as it doesn’t “fully understand the complex legal issues involved with making a new currency system,” and since it doesn’t want its acceptance of Bitcoins misconstrued as an endorsement of Bitcoin. Head on past the break for an account of the aforementioned plunge because it happened.

[Thanks, Zigmar; image: Wikipedia ]

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