????1月27日，星期一，比特幣基金會（Bitcoin Foundation）董事會創(chuàng)始成員兼BitInstant交易所首席執(zhí)行官查理?施瑞姆因洗錢指控而遭逮捕。之后兩周對這種數(shù)字貨幣來說可謂流年不利，先是蘋果公司（Apple）將最后一款原生的比特幣錢包應(yīng)用從應(yīng)用商店（App Store）中下架，現(xiàn)在則是在如此四面楚歌的環(huán)境下，令人尊敬的比特幣交易平臺Mt. Gox顯然也即將宣告關(guān)門大吉。這個動蕩異常的比特幣市場中的最新一則消息是，本周一晚上，比特幣的價格在24小時內(nèi)下跌超過20%，隨后又反彈到接近700美元的價位。2013年12月初的時候，比特幣還曾位于超過1100美元的高價。因此，這次下跌真是讓人翻江倒海、五味雜陳。

????一些人開始表示，這些情況表明這股流行熱潮玩完了，而那些長期對比特幣持懷疑態(tài)度的人更是幸災(zāi)樂禍。同時也很明顯的是，不少比特幣持有者開始拋售了。不過，這一連串壞消息的相關(guān)細節(jié)卻并不完全和這種末日降臨的氣氛相吻合。沒有跡象表明，比特幣背后的理念、技術(shù)及快速發(fā)展的行業(yè)勢頭受到了嚴重削弱。恰恰相反，比特幣目前正好處于一種強有力的新觀念從邊緣轉(zhuǎn)變?yōu)橹髁鞯臓顟B(tài)。

????讓我們先從施瑞姆被捕說起。對他的指控基本上跟比特幣本身沒什么關(guān)系。相關(guān)訴狀和新聞報道所描述的是，施瑞姆其人如何傲慢地愚弄了現(xiàn)行法律，故意為麻醉品交易提供幫助。比特幣在技術(shù)至上的程序員和死硬派自由主義者這兩個群體中根基很深，他們中有些人經(jīng)常跟不公正、無效率的法律唱反調(diào)，有時甚至干脆違反這些法律。但是，盡管少量洗錢分子還會繼續(xù)把比特幣當成犯罪工具之一，但比特幣社群中日益提高的遵守法規(guī)的意識，以及越來越多、完全合法的利潤正面臨風險，都意味著有興趣做出違法勾當?shù)闹忍貛艅?chuàng)業(yè)者和支持者會變得越來越少。

????對現(xiàn)在的多數(shù)比特幣參與者來說，他們多是從興趣或副業(yè)開始起步的，現(xiàn)在這股趨勢則是他們開始走向?qū)I(yè)化的一部分。沒有什么能比Mt. Gox交易所不斷走向衰亡的事實更能說明這個轉(zhuǎn)變的了。Mt.Gox這個名字最初的意思是“萬智牌（Magic The Gathering，世界上第一個集換式卡牌對戰(zhàn)游戲，亦是目前全球最多人參與的同類型游戲——譯注）網(wǎng)上交易所”，它的創(chuàng)始人本來是打算將這個網(wǎng)站打造成買賣流行游戲點卡的地方，結(jié)果它卻意外地成了全球第一個比特幣交易所。

????然后它變成了一樁規(guī)模數(shù)百萬美元的生意，這個交易量超出了創(chuàng)始人所能應(yīng)付的技術(shù)水平。他們既不是生意老手，后來事實證明他們也不是天賦出眾的開發(fā)者。近兩年時間里，他們老是怪這個網(wǎng)站因為一些奇怪的比特幣代碼而臨時關(guān)閉，而其他交易所開發(fā)者早已熟知了這些代碼——所以我們還可以在他們所不擅長的事情中加上管理混亂這一點。比特幣資深人士幾個月來一直對Mt.Gox的情況發(fā)出警告。和施瑞姆被捕一樣，這個交易所的衰敗也會讓比特幣圈子里少一個拙劣的玩家，而盡管現(xiàn)在市場暫時發(fā)生了震蕩，但那些留下來的參與者日子只會過得更好。

????而當蘋果公司在應(yīng)用商店中封殺了Blockchain錢包應(yīng)用這個消息傳來后，比特幣未來的一線希望就變得有點渺茫了。近幾個月來，蘋果一直在清除這種錢包，沒有Blockchain之后，iOS的用戶就沒法從蘋果設(shè)備上收發(fā)比特幣了。此前，蘋果已經(jīng)允許Blockchain在iOS系統(tǒng)中免費運行了近兩年，現(xiàn)在去突然做出了這個封殺的決定，而且連一句解釋都沒有。

????On Monday, Jan. 27, Charlie Shrem, a founding member of the Bitcoin Foundation board and CEO of the BitInstant exchange, was arrested on money laundering charges. The two weeks since then have not been kind to the digital currency, with Apple (AAPL) removing the last native bitcoin wallet application from the App Store, and now the apparent demise of venerable bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox, unfolding under extremely troubling circumstances. That last piece of news in particular rocked markets, with bitcoin prices dropping more than 20% in 24 hours before rebounding to just under $700 by Monday evening. That's a truly stomach-flipping drop from highs of over $1,100 in early December 2013.

????Some have said this is the death of a fad, with longtime skeptics revving up the schadenfreude. And obviously, more than a few bitcoin holders are selling. But the details of this string of bad news don't match the sense of doom. There's no indication that the power of the ideas, technology, or growing industry behind bitcoin have been seriously weakened. Instead, what bitcoin is going through right now is exactly what you'd expect of a powerful new idea transitioning from the fringe to the mainstream.

????Let's start with Shrem's arrest. The complaint against him has almost nothing to do with bitcoin itself. The legal complaint and news stories about Shrem depict a man who cavalierly flouted existing law to knowingly aid in narcotics trafficking. Bitcoin has deep roots in communities of both technocratic programmers and hardcore libertarians, some of whom occasionally move from disagreeing with unjust or inefficient laws to breaking them outright. But, while small-time money launderers will continue to use bitcoin as part of their arsenal, the increasing awareness of compliance regulations in the bitcoin community, and the increasing amount of fully legal profit at stake, mean fewer and fewer high-profile bitcoin entrepreneurs and advocates will be interested in working outside the law.

????This is part of the professionalization of what started out as a hobby or sideline for most current players. Nothing illustrates that transition quite like the ongoing fall of the Mt. Gox exchange. The name Mt. Gox originally stood for "Magic the Gathering Online Exchange," and its original owner intended to set the site up as a place to buy and sell cards from the popular game. It ended up the world's first Bitcoin exchange almost by accident.

????Then it turned into a multi-million dollar business, and the volume outpaced its founders' skill-set. These were neither experienced businessmen nor, it has emerged, very talented developers. They have blamed the site's temporary shutdown on a small quirk of the bitcoin code that has been well known to every other exchange developer for nearly two years -- so we can add spin management to the list of things they're not very good at. Bitcoin veterans have been sounding warnings about Mt. Gox for months. Like Shrem's arrest, its fall will remove a bad actor from the landscape, and despite the temporary shock, the players left behind will be better off.

????The silver lining is only slightly more hazy in the news that Apple has removed the Blockchain wallet application from the App Store. Apple has been steadily removing wallets over recent months, and with Blockchain gone, iOS users have no ability to send and receive bitcoin from their devices. Apple has offered no explanation of its decision, made after nearly two years of allowing Blockchain to operate freely within iOS.