That article does not seem to have any new information, just a re-re-re-hash of the same news, ultimately from the Caixin article.

The OKCoin CEO's statement, IIRC, was made just after the rumor surfaced.  The comment by the Huobi person seems  to have been garbled ("transaction records would go underground"?), the reporter may not know how an exchange works.

I think that the situation is still undefined...

I would rather wait a few days if you don't mind.    But I have posted my reasons before; I see nothing wrong with the protocol itself, it is all about my understanding of how the world works, what is possible to do in it, and how a bitcoin economy could (or could not) work.

I have tried posting on other threads, but traffic there is measured in posts per week...

I was not exaggerating when I said that I learned A LOT reading this thread.  All sorts of information gets posted here, which I would not even dream of looking for otherwise.  Three months ago I did not know what an order book was, and arbitrage for me was something that happens at soccer matches. Here I have learned about the geometric brownian model, technical analysis and its controversy, and much more... THANK YOU ALL, really.

Sorry, i wish cryptocoins succeed in some way, but am still skeptical...

Do you have a link to that video? Thanks...

There should be no confirmation or denial of the PBoC rumor until banks and the PBoC get back to work, which is 14 hours from now at least.  After that, if the rumor is denied, presumably the price will return to the pre-rumor range, perhaps a bit lower.  I it is confirmed, price can only go down; a little or a lot, I cannot guess.

Sorry, I am sleeping now. Please ask again when I wake up.

Meanwhile, make sure that your bitcoins are safely stored.

(Not that I have any intention or means to steal them, but if someone does, I do not want people to think it was me.   The lesson is not at all like that. And it is good friendly advice for anyone, anytime.)

(Perhaps it could even become a bitcoiners' salute, "Live long and your bitcoins be safe" or something.)

Thanks, I appreciate that. 

As for getting a coin, I would rather not invest in bitcoin, but will use it for payments if I find it is better than the alternatives.  Would that do?

Wow, thank you very much for that.    And don't worry about taking me seriously; I am ony serious when I joke. 

Indeed, I hope we can just stop here.

It is not a "threat in an argument"; it has nothing to do with bitcoin, it is about attacking my person instead of my posts.

Why would I try to hide the fact that I delivered an apt and well deserved lesson to someone?

I am not mad, just annoyed at being the topic of half the posts here.

That insistence on discussing  Jorge Stolfi instead of his posts may necessitate a lesson that will not be forgotten.

No, if I have to do it, it will not be destructive, and will be carefully targeted.

You all have been warned long ago. 

Beserk? No, the lesson will be delivered calmly, with just a few keystrokes.  But it is not a decision to be taken lightly.

Now, you and the other guys who keep writing this sort of stuff, do you do it because

  (A) you are frustrated with bitcoin price or something else, and need to vent your frustration on someone; or
  (B) you really meant to write that sort of stuff; or
  (C) you don't believe I can teach you a lesson you won't forget, and are calling my bluff?

If (A), fine, I am glad to be of service.

If (C), know that a man who knows his strength does not use it just to prove he has it.

Actually I am learning A LOT here (thank you to all who taught me). I even learned how to spell bitcoin in Chinese.

Please note that I do not start speeches against bitcoin here.  As I have written many times, I don't care if people invest or trade in bitcoin knowing well what they are doing.  I do speak out against those who try to "sell" bitcoin as good investment to the unwary,  because I believe that ist is a terrible one.  I have no respect for those who try to sell it as a hedge against inflation, a way to evade taxes and buy drugs safely, and other false things that "salesmen" still say -- when in fact they want the guy to invest (and hold at any cost) only to get the price up so that they can make a profit at his expense.

But I know that this is not the place for such speeches.

However, when people write things that I believe are wrong, why should I keep quiet?  I write my opinion, if it bothers you, there is the ostrich ignore button right there.

Then why are the altcoins still thriving? Those who buy and use them are not people?

And it is me the one who states mere opinions, without any arguments?

You can have your opinion about the likelihood of bitcoin surviving, but the fact are that there is no justification now to claim that they will die, and bitcoin will not.  The "first players advantage" and "network effect", if they were real, should have prevented the altcoins from starting. That they started and are thriving is proof that those advantages are not that significant.

On the other hand, some altcoins appear to have characteristics that bitcoin does not have; who can tell whether they won't be decisive?

(I hope no one will claim that "bitcoin is now too big to fail".  )

Chinese Slumber Method prediction for Sunday March 30

Prediction valid for: Sunday 2014-03-30, 19:00--19:59 UTC (not before, not after)
Huobi's predicted price: 2987 CNY.
Bitstamp's predicted price: 493 USD.


Plot legend

Today's Slumber Point was fairly good (S = 0.0045, W = 0.668) and the two previous one are not too bad.  These three points are obviously not in a straight line. The best fit seems to be a decaying shifted exponential, namely A + B*Q**(d-d0), where d is the day of the month, d0 = 27, and Q is sufficiently small. Choosing Q = 0.100 gives A = 2987.36 and B = 136.38 by least squares.

The Bitstamp prediction, as usual, is the Huobi prediction divided by the currency conversion factor R, which was assumed to be 6.06 CNY/USD (it was 6.02, 6.08, 6.03, 6.12 at the last four Slumber Times).

Checking the previous prediction

Prediction was posted on: Friday 2014-03-28, 22:30 UTC
Prediction was valid for: Satuday 2014-03-29, 19:00--19:59 UTC (~21 hours later)

Huobi's predicted price: 2858 CNY.
Huobi's actual price (L+H)/2: 2998 CNY
Error: 140 CNY (~23 USD)

Bitstamp's predicted price: 470 USD.
Bitstamp's actual price (L+H)/2: 498 USD
Error: 28 USD

NOTE: Why did the chicken cross the trend line?