ビットコイン 仮想通貨の危うさが見えた

The Yomiuri Shimbun March 02, 2014
Bitcoin exchange collapse highlights virtual currency’s lack of protection
ビットコイン　仮想通貨の危うさが見えた（3月2日付・読売社説）

Risks involving the bitcoin virtual currency, which is traded on the Internet but lacks state-backed credibility, has been thrown into the spotlight.
　国の信用という裏付けを持たない「仮想通貨」の危うさをさらけ出したと言えよう。

Mt. Gox, the operator of a major bitcoin exchange based in Tokyo, has gone bankrupt.
　インターネット上の仮想通貨「ビットコイン（ＢＴＣ）」の大手取引サイトを運営するマウントゴックス社（東京）が、経営破綻した。

Almost all bitcoins belonging to Mt. Gox’s customers are presumed to have been fraudulently withdrawn by some unknown person or persons, resulting in an excess of liabilities over assets, the exchange said. The damage is said to total about 850,000 bitcoins (equivalent to about ¥11.4 billion), including Mt. Gox’s own store of the virtual currency.
　利用者から預かっていたビットコインが、何者かによって不正に引き出され、債務超過に陥ったためとしている。被害は同社の保有分も含め８５万ＢＴＣ（約１１４億円）にのぼるという。

We are astounded that such a huge sum of bitcoins has vanished like a puff of smoke.
　巨額のコインが煙のように消えてしまったのが事実とすれば、驚きを禁じ得ない。

The exchange operator said a hacker or hackers exploited vulnerabilities in the firm’s software system. It said there is a great possibility the bitcoins were stolen.
　同社はシステム上の弱点をハッカーに突かれ、コインを奪われた可能性が高いと説明している。

Mt. Gox’s explanations are highly suspicious, such as its argument that as much as ¥2.8 billion in cash deposited by its customers has also disappeared. Thorough investigations must be carried out to clarify what happened.
だが、顧客から預かった現金２８億円も消えるなど不可解な点は残る。徹底した実態解明が必要だ。

Bitcoins are useful as they can be transacted freely around the world via the Internet, and are not subject to control by any country. However, unlike ordinary currency, bitcoins are unprotected because they are not regulated by any monetary authority. It seems that no measures can be taken that would help the firm’s customers recover their money.
　ビットコインは国家の統制を受けず、世界で自由に取引できる利点がある。一方、通常のお金と違い、どの国の金融当局からも規制を受けず、保護の枠外にある。被害の救済は困難だろう。

Even in the United States, where the use of bitcoins has been rapidly spreading, Federal Reserve Board Chairwoman Janet Yellen said in testimony before the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday, “This is a payment innovation that’s taking place entirely outside the banking industry.”
　普及の進む米国でさえ、米連邦準備制度理事会（ＦＲＢ）のイエレン議長がビットコインを巡る混乱について「銀行決済の枠外で起きている。

She said the Fed lacks the ability to supervise and regulate exchanges between bitcoins and banks as “there is no intersection at all, in any way.”
ＦＲＢに監督や規制の権限がない」と述べている。

Act responsibly amid risk

The value of bitcoins soared sharply last year, with the outstanding balance at one time exceeding an equivalent of ¥1 trillion in the global virtual currency community.
　ビットコインは昨年、価格が急騰して、一時は全世界で１兆円超の残高に膨らんだ。

With increasing fears over possible erratic fluctuations of bitcoins, along with warnings from analysts pointing to potential money-laundering and other criminal uses of virtual currency, the Bank of Japan has been researching and investigating bitcoin exchange services.
乱高下への警戒感が強まり、資金洗浄など犯罪への悪用といった弊害も指摘されたことから、日銀は調査・研究を進めていた。

Most victims of the bitcoin scandal are believed to be non-Japanese, but as the website of the Tokyo-based bitcoin exchange operator is at the center of the trouble, both the government and the central bank will probably have to deal with the issue in earnest.
　被害を受けた利用者のほとんどは外国人と見られるが、東京に拠点のある業者の取引サイトが問題を起こした以上、政府と日銀も対応に本腰を入れざるを得まい。

Finance Minister Taro Aso, who is also in charge of financial services, said Friday, “I was thinking it [Mt. Gox] would collapse eventually...but it came earlier than I thought, and we will take prompt [countermeasures].” The government should waste no time in preventing a recurrence of bitcoin irregularities, and regulate the virtual currency in close cooperation with other countries concerned.
　麻生財務・金融相は「どこかで破綻すると思っていたが、意外に早かった。早急に（対策を）詰める」との考えを示した。関係国と緊密に連携し、再発防止策や規制に関する検討を急ぐべきだ。

Despite the collapse of the major bitcoin exchange, transactions using the digital currency are continuing on the Internet. This is largely because bitcoins allow users to make remittances globally for small fees.
　大手取引サイトが破綻したというのに、ネット上ではビットコインの取引が続いている。安い手数料で全世界に送金できるといったメリットがあるからだろう。

There are fears, however, that other malicious hackers are waiting in the wings to find the next bitcoin target. Bitcoin exchange services operators are strongly urged to take stringent steps to guard against unauthorized access to their computer systems.
　ただし、悪質なハッカーが、次の標的を狙っている恐れがある。ビットコインのサービスを提供する業者は、不正アクセスの防護などを徹底する責務がある。

Bitcoin users, for their part, should be aware that the virtual currency has no guarantee and protection based on public credibility, so they should act responsibly.
　利用者も、公的な信用の裏付けや保護のない現状をきちんと理解し、自己責任を肝に銘じてもらわなければならない。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, March 2, 2014)
（2014年3月2日01時33分 読売新聞）