Wow. Bitcoin Exchange MT. Gox disappears.

[KevinNYC]

Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox disappears in blow to virtual currency


Mt. Gox, once the world's biggest bitcoin exchange, looked to have essentially disappeared on Tuesday, with its website down, its founder unaccounted for and a Tokyo office empty bar a handful of protesters saying they had lost money investing in the virtual currency.

The digital marketplace operator, which began as a venue for trading cards, had surged to the top of the bitcoin world, but critics - from rival exchanges to burned investors - said Mt. Gox had long been lax over its security.

It was not clear what has become of the exchange, which this month halted withdrawals indefinitely after detecting "unusual activity." A global bitcoin organization referred to the exchange's "exit," while angry investors questioned whether it was still solvent.

A document circulating on the internet, and purporting to be a crisis plan for the exchange, said more than 744,000 bitcoins were "missing due to malleability-related theft", and noted Mt. Gox had $174 million in liabilities against $32.75 million in assets. It was not possible to verify the document or the exchange's financial situation.


Apparent Theft at Mt. Gox Shakes Bitcoin World
[QUOTE]The most prominent Bitcoin exchange appeared to be on the verge of collapse late Monday, raising questions about the future of a volatile marketplace.

On Monday night, a number of leading Bitcoin companies jointly announced that Mt. Gox, the largest exchange for most of Bitcoin

[KevinNYC]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/25/us-mtgox-website-idUSBREA1O07920140225

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/25/business/apparent-theft-at-mt-gox-shakes-bitcoin-world.html?_r=0

[rezznor]

invest in unregulated, untraceable currency controlled by people you don't know and who have no accountability . sounds like a great idea.

[Real Men Wear Green]

So 6% of bitcoins have just disappeared? That's fairly insane. To be fair to bitcoin it's not like we don't see similar things happen with regular currency. But this harkens back to my confession that bitcoin never fully made sense to me. If i had invested my savings in this Mt. Gox I'd be walking around aimlessly, staring at the sky and wondering what the hell happened to my money. "Some website went down so I'm broke? What? Who the **** are these people?"

[HarryCallahan]

invest in unregulated, untraceable currency controlled by people you don't know and who have no accountability . sounds like a great idea.

I know right? Can't believe people do something silly like hold bitcoins or $USD.

[KevinNYC]

Who the **** are these people?"

Wait until you find out what MT. Gox's original business was.

[East_Stone_Ya]

"Bitcoin is not a currency; it is an alternative to currencies, like gold," said a spokesman for the Financial Services Agency. "We are only responsible for currencies and therefore bitcoin is not subject to our regulatory oversight."



"If you buy bitcoins, you should buy keeping in mind that the value could be zero the day after."

those investers knew there will be risks, so why the protest?

[Real Men Wear Green]

Mt Gox = Magic: The Gathering Online eXchange

To be fair, MTG card values are quite volatile also.
No...please, say this isn't true...it's awful, some of their lives must have been ruined, but...I can't stop laughing.

[Godzuki]

I know right? Can't believe people do something silly like hold bitcoins or $USD.


at least when USD$ are stolen electronically, generally the banks will back it up or the credit card companies. BTC's are like asking to get raped electronically if you're not on top of your computer security. its like the perfect thing to steal for hackers it seems.

i also wonder why the MtGox owner ran. like did he think he was liable for the lax security, and under what laws? just be like they hacked us, nothing i can do :confusedshrug:

sooner or later, and i figure more sooner there has to be a mass exodus coming with btc investors/users with all of this negative news causing lack of faith in the currency. people get what they deserve tho since there were so many things about btc's being viable that were extremely suspect.

[Real Men Wear Green]

i also wonder why the MtGox owner ran. like did he think he was liable for the lax security, and under what laws? just be like they hacked us, nothing i can do
Because someone that just lost a million worth of bitcoin with no legal recourse may well just look up his address and shoot him in the face. When people lose money like this they get very angry.

[KevinNYC]

Because someone that just lost a million worth of bitcoin with no legal recourse may well just look up his address and shoot him in the face. When people lose money like this they get very angry.

So far they seem to be pretty mellow.

http://cdn1.sbnation.com/assets/4023629/DSCF4056.jpg

Bitcoin price sunk today and then have come back, so folks probably feel this is just isolated to Mt Gox.


Also they do have legal recourse, they could still sue Mt. Gox. However, they might not get back much, if anything.


By the way, there's fears of a bank run in the Ukraine and the former chief of staff was shot today.

[KevinNYC]

From Coindesk

Today's Open
$545.32

Today's Low
$418.76

Today's Close
$537.45

So, if you weren't part of Mt Gox and did nothing today, you were pretty much unaffected. less than 2% change. I wonder why the rally after the fall.

Also does anyone know what you do with a stolen bitcoin? I thought the idea was they have ways of tracing coins. Would you have to launder your bitcoins?

[Crystallas]

This is something a lot of bitcoin enthusiasts have been celebrating. I hope Gox is gone for good.

[KevinNYC]

MtGox bitcoin chief Mark Karpeles arrested in Japan (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-33745611)[QUOTE]Japanese police have arrested the CEO of the failed company MtGox, which was once the world's biggest exchange of the virtual currency, bitcoin.
Mark Karpeles, 30, is being held in connection with the loss of bitcoins worth $387m (

[navy]

Anyone here use bitcoins? How fast can I convert cash into gains/losses and then back into cash?

[UK2K]

invest in unregulated, untraceable currency controlled by people you don't know and who have no accountability . sounds like a great idea.
Aka...

The American Dollar.