Bitcoin round-up
The value of bitcoin plunged on reports of a massive $350 million theft at Mt. Gox - but at least there are now dogecoin burgers in London. IBTimes UK

Your daily cryptocurrency news round-up is coming to you a little later today as the fallout from the closure of Mt. Gox and revelations that 744,000 bitcoins have been stolen from the excnhage of the last two years.

The revelations have – unsurprisingly – sent the price of bitcoin plummeting as the industry tries its best to isolate Mt. Gox as a lone wolf, and not a reflection of the entire industry.

The value of bitcoin is currently down almost 16% in the last 24 hours on the back of the Mt. Gox problems, having recovered slightly from a drop of 20% earlier on Tuesday.

The value of all top 20 cryptocurrencies are in the red as a result of the Mt. Gox closure, showing that despite some of the currencies' attempts to distance themselves from dependence on bitcoin, it is still very much an influencing factor on the whole crypto landscape.


Mt Gox Closes Amid Reports of $350 Million Theft


Mt. Gox has been having problems for some time now, but on Tuesday morning bitcoin entrepreneur Ryan Selkis published an explosive internal document from Mt Gox called Crisis Strategy Draft which outlined how "at this point, 744,408 bitcoins are missing" as a result of a two-year long cyber-attack which went "unnoticed."

The exchange has halted all trading and its website is now offline. The CrisisStrategy Draft outlined how Mt. Gox could survive by rebranding itself as simply Gox, switch off trading for one month while announcing "a restructuring and re-branding."

This could happen very soon, as the document has today's date as the day the announcement is set to be made, but it appears highly unlikely that the wider bitcoin industry will agree that "the benefits of keeping Mt Gox stable and running outweigh the risks."

We will just have to wait and see what happens.


Bitcoin Foundation Announces 2014 event in Amsterdam


Bitcoin 2014: Building the Digital Economy

The timing of the launch of Bitcoin 2014: Building the Digital Economy could have been better.

Coming on the same morning as the bitcoin world was thrown into crisis by the Mt. Gox debacle, the launch of Bitcoin Foundation's annual event could get lost.

The event, which will take place on 15-17 May, will take place at the Passenger Terminal venue in Amsterdam and follows the inaugural show which took place in San Jose in 2013.

According to Jon Matonis, the Bitcoin Foundation's executive editor, this will be a must-attend event for anyone interested in bitcoin:

"It's where we facilitate the cross-pollination of traditional executives with industry experts and where we collectively envision and practically develop a roadmap to the future."

Speakers have yet to be confirmed but registration is open now and tickets cost from €350 – and you can of course pay with bitcoin.


Dogecoin Burgers


To try and lighten the mood a little, here is the story of one London burger joint which is allowing customers to pay using dogecoin, the meme-based cryptocurrency which is all about generosity and giving.

As reported by Alex Hern in the Guardian, Olivier Rynkiewicz started the Bit bourbon steamed burgers stand with his girlfriend Thais Muller in mid-January, steaming burgers in Brick Lane's Sunday Up Market in bourbon-infused water.

Rynkiewicz was alerted to dogecoin by his brother:

"He told me about bitcoin when it was still not really worth much. When no one took it seriously. I didn't at the time, but now we started doing [the stand], and I was thinking, 'OK, bitcoin was worth sh*t at start, it was worth nothing. Now it's worth, what, $500 or $600?'" he told the Guardian.

Burgers cost between £5.50 and £6.50 but Rynkiewicz isn't in it to make a lot of money, saying he's happy to keep hold of the dogecoin he collects:

"I don't cash them out, I store them, because it's not the main source of income. There's like two or three doge customers a day. So if I'm going to lose on it later on, if, yeah, if, I can afford it.

"I do believe it's going to, not replace the normal currency, but be used really often. This stuff is the future. Hopefully I will be one of the few owners."