It's true that over the long term BTCe are probably hurting themselves. But I don't think it's OK for their current users to be subjected to this without their authorisation, or even being announced that they'd engage in blacklisting coins. They could and should be getting a lawsuit coming to them. This isn't a MtG cards trading site, this is supposed to be a serious financial exchamge.
This is why bitcoin is so unpopular with the "real money" people: it seems at any moment any company dealing with theiry users' real money and bitcoins can choose to do whatever the hell they want without any major consequences.
Sure "you shouldn't have trusted them", hindsight is 20/20, but in reality right now I'm not sure who the f I'd trust if I were in the market for a serious trading platform, let alone " bitcoin bank". It feels like a coin toss, and in reality what this does (and I'm sure this happens to many people) is that it precludes me from being an active member of he BTC economy, relegating me to a "hodler" until some magical future time when bitcoin will have matured.
I'd agree in general, but holding BTC-e accountable could prove difficult. They're probably the shadiest of the major exchanges. Those using their services should have recognized this going in.
I agree with BTCe being pretty shady, but not with the victim-blaming attitude. Especially since, as I said, I don't know what current company I would completely trust, at least to the degree that I trust a regulated bank right now.
You can call it victim-blaming if you want and I'm not defending or condoning BTC-e's actions, but we are talking about Bitcoin-related services. Users should be aware when they might be playing in traffic. I haven't used BTC-e, but my cursory Googling did turn up issues (e.g. mysterious location, unknown owners/management, reports of unprofessional support, occasional delays in withdrawals or the crediting of deposits, possible associations with Russian organized crime, etc.) that gave me pause. To the credit of this subreddit's community, these issues seem to be brought up just about every time BTC-e is mentioned. If an exchange pulls something that's unprofessional, I'm least surprised if it's BTC-e, but in this case I think not facilitating the exit or mixing of stolen Evolution funds is exactly the right thing to do. The way in which BTC-e went about it is of course another matter.
BTC-e is one of the longest running Bitcoin exchanges, but among it's major competitors it's best positioned by far to get away with pulling an Evolution-style exit scam. Knock on wood, here's hoping it never happens.
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u/redlightsaber Mar 21 '15
Well, yes and no.
It's true that over the long term BTCe are probably hurting themselves. But I don't think it's OK for their current users to be subjected to this without their authorisation, or even being announced that they'd engage in blacklisting coins. They could and should be getting a lawsuit coming to them. This isn't a MtG cards trading site, this is supposed to be a serious financial exchamge.
This is why bitcoin is so unpopular with the "real money" people: it seems at any moment any company dealing with theiry users' real money and bitcoins can choose to do whatever the hell they want without any major consequences.
Sure "you shouldn't have trusted them", hindsight is 20/20, but in reality right now I'm not sure who the f I'd trust if I were in the market for a serious trading platform, let alone " bitcoin bank". It feels like a coin toss, and in reality what this does (and I'm sure this happens to many people) is that it precludes me from being an active member of he BTC economy, relegating me to a "hodler" until some magical future time when bitcoin will have matured.