I don't understand why people would get so upset when ransomware happens,
as this really isn't very different from a hard drive failure, for example.

Also 10 seconds on google gets you links like this:
http://betanews.com/2016/04/27/remove-cryptxxx-ransomware/

and even if you cant decrypt your files now, there will likely be solutions
within a year.

But you cannot fix stupid.

I agree with all of the previous posters, though I'd add that you have to be aware of
the agenda of the source, and they tend to be mainstream. Finance tends to be
less biased.

I'd add:
http://www.reuters.com/finance/markets
http://www.zerohedge.com/

And ths site sometimes has economics news, but its main purpose is to provide alternative reporting:
http://www.newsbud.com/
(look up the background for Sibel Edmonds on wikipedia)

I try to think of fiat money as a man-in-the-middle attack on cryptocurrencies.
Of course, the payout has ensured that fiat got in early, and it will continue the attack.

Thanks for that writeup offering a structured way of thinking about why and how this
attack will progress. It's concentrated my thoughts a little on what to do next. For me,
it'll be alt-coins until I find better ways of getting my bitcoins to circulate.

Y'know what really, really, really P**&*&*s me off about the BFL scam?

Don't get me wrong, BFL _owes_ me, but I would have been in profit except
for the greed and stupidity of people who bought from BFL well past the day
it became clear that it was too late to invest in mining equipment.

Even today, it's the same lemmings, different cliff.

Never underestimate the stupidity of people in large numbers.

And thanks to all who have added to this thread, and made the world
a shade better. FU_BFL!

When they talk about banning banks I'll start to believe.

All wars are banksters wars, and in times of peace there's always fraud, money laundering,
and corruption.

Just to make a point, I'll mention that I own a couple of gold coins over 100 years old. You know what?
They still work.

On the other hand, my bitcoind.0.8.6.1 not so much. And yes, I have another machine with 0.11 on it
just to prove I still have access to the network.

It's not just the bitcoin devs - other software that bitcoind depends on has security fixes and updates,
so the project is running across quicksand, to make an analogy.

I'd rather changes happened more slowly, and preferably via an altcoin, than via a process akin to
open warefare. YMMV.

2016 will be the year that bitcoin dies. Why?

The average punter has no chance of installing bitcoin software.
I haven't run bitcoind for a year, (not strictly true) but it is
both impossible to keep up on old hardware, and to install
bitcoind to snything less than a bleeding edge system.

If you are a miner or a bank, fine. Nobody else will run bitcoin
at the end of 2016. 

If you are not in full-on panic mode you haven't been fully informed.

Running these prop OS after you signed the eula gives the franchise the right to your hard drive.
You may own the hardware, but the data is theirs. All of it. Including your bitcoin if your wallet is there.

Live with that.

Follow up: This is getting weird :

http://www.maxkeiser.com/2015/11/russia-did-not-hack-jpm-as-nsa-chief-suggested/

"Keith Alexander, the NSA director from 2005 until last March, said he had no direct knowledge
of the attack though it could have been backed by the Russian government in response to sanctions
imposed by the U.S. and EU over the crisis in Ukraine."

"Notice that ‘experts’ never go challenged by the mainstream media.

A year later, we learn that the ‘state level’ hackers were actually two Israeli-Americans and a Florida-based man whose nationality is not mentioned.

UPDATE: All three were Israelis with US citizenship."

Also
"Aaron, 31, a U.S. citizen who lives in Moscow and Tel Aviv, remains at large and is the subject of an FBI "wanted" poster."

WTF?

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/three-indicted-u-over-major-144238269.html

"Prosecutors said Shalon and Orenstein also ran payment processors IDPay and Todur, through which they collected $18 million of fees to process hundreds of millions of dollars of transactions for criminals.

Shalon was also accused of running the illegal bitcoin exchange Coin.mx with Murgio, and concealing at least $100 million in Swiss and other accounts."

I'd suggest that if you want to add a link to a site, it would be a good idea to clarify
whether they are in NYC - because of the bitlicense thing.

I had an account frozen for two years because of FACTA so I'm a bit paranoid about these things.

I have bitcoind on my laptop.

Every six months or so, I run bitcoind to update the database.

It takes over two weeks to update at present, slowly taking longer to complete.

So, 2-3 weeks to complete a transaction? 

"We have strong laws against one business obstructing another business competing against it. These laws are even tougher for those companies that have the privileged position of a significant market share,"

When they finally figure out that bitcoin could be the end of rogue banking there is going to be pain. Lots of pain.

"What is the new invention created, from separate common parts?
A financial transfer system that uses blockchain rails, instead of the current world clearinghouse? Sounds like bitcoin to me."

Exactly so. First banks prevent their customers from using their accounts to trade bitcoin,
then they patent the process to profit from it. The supposed feature of the patent is
that transferring the money in three hops, one of which is a cryptocurrency, is faster,
in some unknown circumstances, than a single wire transfer.

I'd suppose that would be true if there were a delay somehow built into the SWIFT system, or
if it were necessary to use both the SWIFT system and another wire transfer system, 
but I do not see how that would work.

The mystery of this patent is whether it does what it says, except it doesn't actually
specify how the advantage is calculated, ie, how it works. 

I'd throw it out.

I would see the novel features as :

a) Offering the "system" as a service

b) the inclusion of a second exchange in the process. This seems odd.
Surely the process could be completed without going through a second exchange?

I'd see it as routine to wire funds from one bank to an exchange, convert to BTC,
convert to a different currency, and wire funds to another bank in a different country.
That would be done as a discrete process, and I never got around to writing an
application to automate it.

"The Bitcoins that are missing are being held by Homeland Security at this address:"

That's really, really, messed up. I'm going to set aside all the emotional, financial, and
physical trauma you experienced, just for the moment. The thinking behind bitcoin is
that it is a remedy for all the worst decisions that governments can make. And yet
somehow, the government has acquired your bitcoins, leaving you with nothing except
your family and your trust in the Constitution. We all have a problem, it's just a matter
of time before we recognise it.

"They did not want us to talk to each other so they issued an administrative separation order covering all the Bitcoiners arrested in the sweep."

There were several posts regarding the impact of public discussion of your case.
Did that help? Could we have done more? What was their attitude to bitcoin?

I'm working on the premise that at some time some government will try to arrest all bitcoiners,
and that it would be foolish to assume that cannot happen.

Hopefully, the rock-climbing is going well. Please pass best wishes to Zoe.

"at the request of the Department of Justice."

That sounds strange. I am glad to hear that at least this part of the damage is over,
and to see some signs of sanity in your Justice system.

I recall that there seemed to be some sort of gag order in place, JaneW.
Are you now free to talk about these events?

I believe it's called "voting with your wallet"