Centralisation versus distributed anonymity

The centralisers can be shut down by central bankers and subject to hacking a la Mt Gox. They are also in a better position to manipulate markets. The distributed network model has yet to be tested on the open market. There are at least now two fundamentally different models of how to do Bitcoin which beg the question of ‘Who do people trust’? Nobody knows which model will predominate. But eventually, the money will talk.

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We’re really opposed to the trend towards centralizing Bitcoin, which CoinBase is trying to do.  Bitcoiners really should have learned their lesson from Mt. Gox, but instead many people are flocking to CoinBase, which has all the markings of another ponzi scheme, since they encourage you to store your coins with them more or less permanently.  The major exchanges are hugely dangerous for Bitcoiners because they report everything to FinCEN and the IRS.  The US government may eventually ban Bitcoin (like they banned gold during World War II!) if it becomes too much of a threat to the Federal Reserve. CoinBase users might then hear a knock on the door from the boys in blue.  Even worse, Bitcoin exchanges get hacked constantly, which means user information is vulnerable to hackers.  Most exchanges won’t even admit when they get hacked because it undermines their reputation for security.  If you upload your ID to a Bitcoin exchange like CoinBase which then gets penetrated by hackers, your private information winds up being sold on the darknet, and suddenly criminals are opening bank accounts and credit cards under your name.  It’s a nightmare.
 
We’re launching an anonymous exchanging service at CoinChimp.com to enable people to buy and sell bitcoin easily and anonymously with fiat money.  We encourage people to withdraw the Bitcoin they buy from us to an electrum wallet on their laptop.  This is a fairly challenging venture for us, but we hope to provide an alternative to the big exchanges like CoinBase.  None of the sites on my network require ID verification and we report absolutely NOTHING to government agencies.

http://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/news/exclusive-interview-bitcoin-networks-dr-michael-moriarty-stanford-phd-becomes-bitcoins-doc-ock/2014/05/17