Bitcoin security woes not scaring Edmonton business owner

Despite recent security problems, the owner of a localbitcoin business says he isn't being discouraged from using the digital currency.

Bitcoin Brains buys, sells and trades bitcoins in Edmonton. The digital currency has been rocked by hackings and bankruptcies lately but Bitcoin Brains' owner says the future is still bright for bitcoins but people need to be careful.

"It's vulnerable to security hacks," said Bennett Hojka. "Security is the biggest thing with bitcoin and educating the people to secure your wallet. I don't want to say you can't trust everyone but you never know.

One Edmonton bitcoin bank, Flexcoin, was recently hacked and robbed of over $600,000.

Police are investigating.

The world's largest bitcoin bank, Mt.Gox, recently filed for bankruptcy protection and announced that 850,000 bitcoins worth several hundred million dollars are unaccounted for.

It's still not clear whether those missing bitcoins were stolen, voided by technological flaws or both.

Financial regulators and police around the world are still looking at options for regulating the digital currency.