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Comment by mappum | Hacker News Reader

This is pretty logical. MtGox halted BTC withdrawals because of the transaction malleability issue (which, due to MtGox's poorly made software, let people get their withdrawal payments more than once, leaving MtGox open to get its wallet emptied).

So now many people are stuck with MtGoxBTC, which is simply a balance in MtGox's database. MtGoxBTC is being traded for actual BTC (on exchanges like https://www.bitcoinbuilder.com/). It has a lower value since people are unsure whether or not MtGox will fix their system and let them take their money (IMO they probably will). Sellers are getting out to avoid the risk, and buyers are getting discounted (but potentially risky) BTC.

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>they probably will

At this point it appears that MtGox could go either way.

I'd be fairly impressed if they survived - they seemed like they were already on the ropes in terms of solvency with it taking months to payout for BTC after the US government froze their accounts or fined them or whatever in May. I'm not really sure how many serious dick-punches like that a company can take.

Those funds were seized because of their relation to SR and other illicit activity. As such I don't think that has an effect on Gox's solvency.[1]

[1]http://thegenesisblock.com/mt-gox-seizures-linked-silk-road-...

If they were running a ponzi type operation then any missing cash on hand could greatly disrupt their payments depending on the withdrawls at the time.

This is what you would logically conclude by looking at the situation at a glance, but this is not true. Sure, Mt. Gox has the capability of operating just fine. Sure, they were vulnerable and needed to stop withdrawals temporarily, just like several other exchanges that had the same vulnerability. In fact, Mt. Gox did a service to some other companies by providing a warning that the risk of this vulnerability is becoming critical.

HOWEVER, this is NOT the reason Mt. Gox is not, and WON'T recover. The reason they won't recover is because they are taking a crap all over any sort of trust anybody could have had in them. They blamed bitcoin fundamentally and denied their own responsibility. A decision has already been made ever since Mt. Gox addressed the public about the withdrawal lockdown that they CANNOT be trusted, and it is not only based on this most recent folly, but many past mistakes and irresponsible public relations.

I just wish they would just give up and kill themselves off completely somehow.

they are taking a crap all over any sort of trust anybody could have had in them

MtGox's incompetence has caused at least 3 major price crashes over the last 3 years and somehow people keep coming back. Probably because there has historically been huge demand and very little competition, but that may finally be changing.

Or, people are realizing that there might not be enough actual BTC to back all those MtGoxBTC.

> MtGoxBTC is being traded for actual BTC (on exchanges like https://www.bitcoinbuilder.com/)

Without creating an account, nothing on this site reveals how this works. Is this made possible by using the MtGox API and voucher codes as a backchannel?

you deposit "Gox" BTC to the "Gox" address on your account (internal transfers of BTC within mtgox still work) and/or regular BTC to your "Real" BTC address

http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/1xmf8u/i_just_launc...

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