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THINGS HAVE GONE from bad to worse for bitcoin institutions after one was forced to shut down after hackers stole all of its coins in an attack on Sunday.
Flexcoin is one of the smaller bitcoin banks around, and the theft of 896 bitcoin, worth €446,000, hit the site badly.
In a statement posted on its site, it said that a lack of resources will prevent it from operating as normal.
As Flexcoin does not have the resources, assets, or otherwise to come back from this loss, we are closing our doors immediately.
Not all of its coins were stolen however. Any bitcoin that was put into “cold storage”, saving their bitcoin onto external devices not connected to the internet, were unaffected by the theft.
Users who opted for this service will be contacted by Flexcoin. Once their identity is verified, they will have their bitcoin transferred out free of charge. The bank says it will “attempt to work with law enforcement to trace the source of the hack.”
Flexcoin wasn’t the only bitcoin institution facing problems. Poloniex was also the victim of a theft today. The latter admitted earlier today that about 12.3 per cent of its bitcoin was stolen, due to a “vulnerability in the code that takes withdrawals.”
The owner of Poloniex apologised for the theft saying:
I sincerely apologize for this, and I am very grateful to the many people who have already expressed their support and belief in my character. I take full responsibility; I will be donating some of my own money, and I will not be taking profit before the debt is paid.
I welcome your opinions on how to proceed, but please be constructive. I do not have the money to wave away the debt, so we’ll need to work together.
Despite these problems, the performance of bitcoin is still strong with one coin trading at roughly €500.
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The registration of new companies is due to the number of people being hired as contractors, a move designed to ensure large companies can avoid laws such as having to pay redundancy and pensions. Essentially and erosion of workers rights.
Also, “Real Estate” companies are not necessarily a reflection of economic activity. Just the beginning of another property boom. Big investors taking no debt risk by setting up companies in tandem with the banks as they all know that risk is relative to the next bailout they get.
This is clearly good news and can’t be chalked down to job bridge but the doom merchants still find a way to be negative . There are plenty of things to complain about without jumping on positive news stories . I know of plenty of start ups that have come into existence in the last 12 months and I’m also aware of the contractors working for multinational companies . Many of these contracts are quite lucrative as they compensate for the lack of security in tenure .
Also worth bearing in mind that all new businesses are companies. Plenty of other business models out there.
Sole traders, partnerships etc. also create jobs and contribute to the economy.
I wish new start ups all the best but alas this seems like another property bubble…. This Govt just like the last Govt needs to really perk up and listen to this big scary word : S U S T A I N A B I L I T Y !
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