I find that many companies related to Bitcoin are extremely unprofessional and they still run their businesses like 3 years ago when Bitcoin was just an internet novelty and not a real currency the way it is today.
Just look at the latest Blockchain fiasco where the guy who runs the company got butthurt over some Reddit comments and got involved in a flame war. MtGox's lack of professionalism is just the tip of the iceberg.
I love BTC and I wish it would take off in a major way, but in order for that to happen people with shitty attitude need to stop running the community. I guess this is why regulation exists in the real world... oh well...
This is part of the scary naivete of Bitcoin boosters. It's as if how to set up and run computers for serious financial systems was never worked out by anyone before. There has to be a Bitcoin exchange that isn't run by clowns ... hasn't there?
Read some of the CoinBase founders exchanges here and elsewhere, and you'll see that they bring some very good customer service to the Bitcoin world (although they really struggled with scaling up earlier this year).
Bitstamp also runs a highly-professional outfit, with customer service usually responding to my queries within a day, often sooner.
The problem is all the companies trying to be legit are being choked into irrelevance by stifling regulation (with a few exceptions like Coinbase). I expect that next year after a few make it all the way through their compliance efforts (e.g. kraken.com, coinsetter), the situation will be much improved.
Until recently there wasn't enough money in Bitcoin to cover the cost of security. Obviously that is changing quickly, but it will take time for serious people to enter the market.
Definitely, which is why I tried to just buy a few (fractions of) bitcoins just for the historical fun of it, but as intensely skeptical I am of all the bitcoin craze, I was still shocked at just how awful MtGox is. I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if I could code something better.
Just to tell people that as amateurish as they may think these exchanges are, it's actually much worse.
Makes you wonder how a company like CoinBase even got funded by YC, come to think of it.
Probably because CoinBase is bringing some professionalism to the game. I admit I had some bad experiences with CoinBase in the beginning, as they were getting scaled up, but they always handled it with professionalism.
Just look at the latest Blockchain fiasco where the guy who runs the company got butthurt over some Reddit comments and got involved in a flame war. MtGox's lack of professionalism is just the tip of the iceberg.
I love BTC and I wish it would take off in a major way, but in order for that to happen people with shitty attitude need to stop running the community. I guess this is why regulation exists in the real world... oh well...