Bitcoin: Time to Panic? & 4 More Stories You Can't Miss Today

CURRENCY CASUALTIES – Several Bitcoin exchanges experienced a "massive and concerted" denial of service attack Tuesday afternoon. (That means servers receive so many requests they end up in a fetal position in the corner, unable to respond to anyone.) A day after MtGox, the best-known Bitcoin exchange, announced it was halting withdrawals indefinitely, another exchange, BitStamp, followed suit. Authorities have also looked into regulating the digital currency and a vice-president of the BitCoin foundation is being investigated for money-laundering, accused of selling Bitcoins to be used in drug purchases. The price of a Bitcoin has dropped nearly $200 in the past week, to $650. The word from the Bitcoin community, however, is "don't panic", writes Business Insider's Rob Wile. "This problem has to do with poor design around Bitcoin, not Bitcoin itself. You don't blame gravity when your plane fails to fly--you understand gravity and design around it", Jesse Powell, founder of exchange Kraken, told Wile. "There's a tremendous buying opportunity right now. I'm recommending everyone I know to jump in." (Author's ponder: Doesn't that rallying cry — everyone jump in! — often lead to many drowned?)

• Zach Karabell: Bitcoin: Bubble? Maybe. The Wave of the Future? Definitely.

TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE? – China surprised the world with trade surplus figures much higher than expectations. According to official data, the Chinese economy showed a surplus of $32 billion in January, up 14 percent from a year earlier. To be clear, that is 5 times expectations for exports and more than 3 times expectations for imports. The numbers are a relief after disappointing December figures had many concerned that China was stuck in a rut. With figures like that, it is likely China will surpass the US as the world's largest trading nation at some point this year.

Problem is, it's so good it's hard to believe it. How can exports grow 10.6 percent year-over-year when manufacturing output shrank last month, growth slowed in the fourth quarter 2013, and the Lunar New Year – when all migrant workers go home – fell in January? Figures were already suspicious last year, notes Quartz's Lily Kuo. The culprit is over-invoicing, a practice Chinese businesses use to go around capital controls, she explains. "It's a challenge to figure out what's going on" in the data, said Royal Bank of Scotland economist Louis Kuijs to the Wall Street Journal. "You really have to wear your detective hat."

NO MORE DRAMA — The US House of representatives, controlled by Republicans, passed Tuesday a bill to raise the debt ceiling through March 2015 with no strings attached. The Senate, controlled by Democrats, should approve it shortly. This ends any fear of a new government shutdown. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew had warned that without an act of Congress, the US government could only pay its bills through the end of the month.

HACK YOUR OWN DOG FOOD – Paypal president (and LinkedIn Influencer) David Marcus is annoyed: Employees at the company headquarters in San Jose don't seem to be fans of their own product. In an email to staff revealed by VentureBeat, Marcus noted that some employees had refused to install the Paypal app or couldn't remember their password. They're also not doing their part to evangelize the product to non-participating businesses. "That’sunacceptable to me, and the rest of my team, everyone at PayPal should use our products where available. That’s the only way we can make them better, and better,” Marcus wrote.

KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON – The Bank of England is bullish about the UK economy and raised its 2014 growth forecast to 3.4 percent, from 2.8 percent. Despite a rapid recovery, the BoE assured it would not increase its benchmark rate, at a record low of 0.5 percent for nearly five years. "We're not going to take risks with this recovery," said Governor Mark Carney. The bank got stung by its own promises: last August, it had established a clear tie between interest rates and jobs, saying it wouldn't raise rates until unemployment got below 7 percent. But that bar is being reached much faster than expected, likely this spring, so a new rule had to be written. The BoE will now look at a whole slew of indicators, and rates should remain steady until 2015.