What was once the world’s biggest Bitcoin exchange, Tokyo-based Mt. Gox filed for bankruptcy protection today, saying hackers stole something like $480 million worth of the digital currency from the company.
“Bitcoin has always been volatile and speculative,” investor Ken Shishido told Reuters. “It’s too bad that this happened, but we have to let it go. And then we’ll buy more.”
Brian Patrick Eha, who’s writing a book about Bitcoin, is among those who think the digital currency has already caught on in such a big way that the question is not whether, but how, it will recover. Many observers expect more and better regulated exchanges will spread risk and reduce the volatility of incidents like the collapse of Mt. Gox.
Mt. Gox says it lost 850,000 bitcoin, or 7 percent of the world total.
Real estate companies that have been experimenting with Bitcoin include crowdfunder RealtyShares, residential brokerage Bond New York, property management software provider Rentalutions, and rental listings site RentHop. Source: reuters.com.
