Best Bitcoin auction site

Another day, another bitcoin-related story of a hacking intrusion and BTC theft.

According to people that have provided documentation to CoinDesk, as well as information posted on the Bitcointalk forum, the auction site Bitmit had 15 BTC stolen, after the server was accessed by an employee of their hosting company without authorization.

This theft, along with the effort and responsibility of securing an auction site that has escrow functionality, were the two largest factors in Bitmit announcing that it is being sold.

Bitmit, known as the ‘eBay of bitcoin’, has had a string of setbacks since its inception. After the theft the site has remained online, albeit with the header “Bitmit is going to be sold. Please complete your orders and withdraw your funds asap!”

“We are planning to let another company take over Bitmit. Meanwhile we deactivated the site to let you withdraw your funds & complete your orders. The chances are good that Bitmit will be continued.”

The scams and frauds that have cropped up around bitcoin as a new type of monetary technology have been numerous. Earlier this week, members of the US Senate held hearings regarding the risks that decentralized virtual currencies pose to the financial system.

Bitcoin-based auction sites like Bitmit often take escrow payments and hold the funds until an item arrives. And although escrow could become a big part of bitcoin being a reliable system of payment, the currency’s unregulated nature makes it a somewhat risky proposition.

“Neither Bitmit nor any of the new bitcoin auction sites should be trusted to hold the escrow funds of their users, ” said Michael McNeff, owner of new auction site Half Price Digital. Half Price Digital does not provide escrow services and could gain market share after Bitmit’s closure.