An interesting tidbit on the progress of the bitcoin bubble from the SMH:
Bitcoin is on the map in more ways than one – and it looks like it is becoming a Chinese craze.
You can watch it trading across the globe, and possibly draw some intriguing conclusions about where this fast-moving digital money is going. For the last week, a site called fiatleak has offered a map that its creator says draws information from all the major online bitcoin exchanges, like Mt. Gox and BTC-e, and shows what country’s residents are buying bitcoins, in real time.
There are also sites that list all major bitcoin exchanges, but they don’t show it as a global phenomenon as vividly.
One striking thing about the map: even at the height of the American and European trading days, when it’s 3 am in China, Chinese transactions far outstrip activity in euros. The United States dollar transactions are still more popular than Chinese at that time, with about twice as many transactions. China was barely involved in bitcoin a year ago, however. The Chinese presence can also strengthen when it is daytime in China and night in the United States.
“You can watch China and the US play Ping-Pong on this,” said Andrew Hodel, who built the site. “You see the psychology, as the bitcoin goes over a threshold number in dollars or yuan.”
Bidding today is looking decidedly shaky:
