re: 40% of Bitcoin Exchanges Fail; only 30% of those refund your Bitcoins...

quote:

---

I do agree with the proponents when they say the failure of exchanges has nothing to do with the integrity of the technology behind bitcoin

---

quote:

---

but it certainly has everything to do with the success or failure if bitcoin as a currency/asset class

---

Agreed. In the short term, bitcoin lives and dies by the exchanges.

However, I think some perspective and foresight is necessary here.

The early exchanges were mostly started by amateurs with little to no true corporate backing. They were often hastily built by amateur coders who had little knowledge of financial markets, etc. This has led to numerous problems, like lax security which exposes sites to hacking vulnerabilities.

We are now entering the second phase of bitcoin exchanges: Professional exchanges. There are exchanges being developed right now with solid corporate and VC backing, with the professional expertise that money brings. This is going to change the game and make it safer for more people to enter the bitcoin arena.