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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.”
To make things worse, the bank tweeted a few days earlier about how it wasn’t affected by the events in MtGox, one of the largest bitcoin exchange.
(Image: Flexcoin/Twitter)
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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I found this oul yoke in the front garden, looks a bit like a pipe bomb, don’t know if it’s dangerous and decided I’d pop it in and see if it’s……. Jaysus, what are youse all running away for?
@Fiona deFreyne: ha ha ha ha ha brill!
Ah here,why walk into a barracks or bloody anywhere if you found a suspicious device???
@j lad: Correct.The fool/idiot or something else who brought this “object” into the Garda station was up to no good(I suspect).No person in their right mind would do such a thing.I wonder was the reason to create a major distraction in that area?Interesting to find what the object contained.
@j lad: I wonder was a friend of theirs in custody at the time and they were looking to get out?
@liam whelan: quite possible but i reckon a lack of intelligence more likely.i’d say if his brains were dynamite he wouldn’t have enough to blow his nose
@j lad: could have been 60 something year old who knows no better in fairness. Can’t see some 18 year old scrote walking in with it, he’d probably hold on to it to throw into someone’s house!
@liam whelan: Nah, someone of that age would call instead of picking it up
I mean this affectionately, but it’s a bit Irish, isn’t it?
@Fiona deFreyne: I must say I have never understood the meaning of that phrase – probably a hangover from the times of the British in Ireland.
@Fiona deFreyne: t
The fact that you said ‘affectionately’ makes it sound even more condescending. Just saying…….
@Sean Higgins: I’m Irish and if we can’t have a little fun, it means that we take ourselves too seriously. Ahh well, I suppose we Irish are a bit precious.
@Tony deFreyne : He was just showing the Jihadist lads how the Irish do the suicide bombing craic to get a job. Or is that a bit too near the mark of precious territory?
@Patrick J. O’Rourke:
Number of jihadist bombs in Ireland – Zero.
Number of Repub/Loyalist bombs in Ireland – Thousands.
Or is that a bit too near the mark of precious territory?
@Patrick J. O’Rourke: ROTFL @PAtrick, must have added this to his LinkedIn profile ;)
@Brinster: I am very we aware of that thank you. I was replying to Tony deFreyne’s sentiments and splattering the ridiculous to emphasise the point of what is precious to see what other people thought. As for the stuff you mention, Yep I saw some.
@eastsmer:
Poor old Fiona still has the colonial mindset.
@Brinster:
How many British Army armered cars and tanks and guns, Brinster?
Happened in Swords a few years back. A guy found a pipe bomb stuck to the bottom of his car so he drive it to Swords Gardai station. Needless to say mayhem ensued!
“It shows the danger the gardai face” what about the army guys left dealing with it f##king fool
@Jack Crabbe: they probably got the heads up that there was a suspected explosive when they were called in, and would know to send their trained experts with appropriate protective gear. As opposed to a desk sergeant who normally just signs passport picture
@Karen Wellington: Don’t mock the desk sergeant signing passport photos. A pen could break and splinter into his eye or anything! And there’s no telling when you’ll find a larger than usual blob of mustard inside your hang sandwich. These are dangerous times for the guardians of the peace.
@Jack Crabbe: “f##king fool” is a bit much. The Gardai obviously were in danger there as would be the army on arrival. It’s not a competition. They work together. As for the desk sergeant jibes, he might be on the desk today but could have been running in to Citywest yesterday. Job varies. Not just 1 thing every day.
@Mick Murphy: My comment really wasn’t a jibe, gardaí have to deal with junkies and violent offenders on a daily basis (and sometimes idiots who find bombs), they get bitten and spat at and so, so much worse. My point was that he or she doesn’t have any training in dealing with explosives or access to the necessary protective clothing and equipment. The Army EOD team had the necessary expertise and they took over, I haven’t heard about any explosions in Finglas today so it was obviously a job well done.
@Karen Wellington: No….I got all that from your original comment. The jibe/joke was the next one. Yeah for sure a job well done. Fair dues.
Where are those posters from the article on pay and conditions in the Army today?
“Here, Garda. I found this yoke owside me gaff and I reckoned it could be a bleed’in bomb. So I thought the sensible thing to do would be pick the thing up and bring it to yous, like.”
Anybody recognise him?
https://youtu.be/C3PBiF5W54E
Only in Ireland. Anywhere else they’d run a mile.
As you do lmao I’d love to have seen the Garda’s face….
I’d say that went down a bomb with the Guards
If those walls could talk……
Only in Finglas.
@Ian Heaton: or tallaght, or Ballyfermot etc
He should be done for attempted murder. What a stupid thing to do.
@Darren Bates: I’d say gross stupidity. Reminds me of the guy who walked into the bar and hands out with a dog turd in his hand and says “look what i nearly stepped in”
How stupid was that man.
My daughters crèche faces the Garda station. I got a phone call to say there was a bomb outside and the crèche was blocked off and that parents would not be allowed through
have your say