This comment thread is full of people saying that incidents like this are mining the viability of a bitcoin currency. What many don't see is that bitcoin is an algorithmic solution to a problem a lot of people have (decentralized, untraceable money transactions). The implication of being algorithmic is that you don't have to trust people anymore, just the math. Even if this currency fails, the solution remains and will continue to be implemented.
For example, geometry was literally invented to measure land. I'm sure that when the Pythagorean theorem was discovered, some of the first "geometers" did screw up and made a wrong land measurment. Maybe some of the reaction at the time were: "Well this geometry thing is too dangerous, if one small calculus error could make me lose half my land. It will never catch on."
For example, geometry was literally invented to measure land. I'm sure that when the Pythagorean theorem was discovered, some of the first "geometers" did screw up and made a wrong land measurment. Maybe some of the reaction at the time were: "Well this geometry thing is too dangerous, if one small calculus error could make me lose half my land. It will never catch on."