Bitcoin Forum

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/25/us-bitcoin-mtgox-ceo-idUSBREA1O12T20140225 (http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/25/us-bitcoin-mtgox-ceo-idUSBREA1O12T20140225)

This dance ain't over...

Interesting, I already thought it was dead.

Turning point?  Maybe he means going down the s-bend.

I don't buy it.  If he really cared about the MtGox brand he wouldn't have pulled the plug on the exchange like he did.

Ah, an official announcement will be made soon-ish  8)

"Turning point" still sounds painful to Gox user's account balance...

i still have some hope and want to believe they are back.

They'll be bought.

The sooner we get this over with the better.

Karpeles said: "We should have an official announcement ready soon-ish. We are currently at a turning point for the business. I can't tell much more for now as this also involves other parties."

He is selling the company .... that's obvious :)

Hope that the company buying this auwful mess doesn't get Goxxed!.

It would be cheaper to start a new exchange...

The cost of liabilities must be staggering at this point.

That actually sounds a lot like he is selling.. Who would want to buy exchange with so bad reputation?

Remember, that the 700K Bitcoin are gone is only a rumor. We seem to take a lot of rumors for facts here. But the truth of the matter is, we don't know and we don't know who is spinning what for which purpose. For all we know it might be the thief of the 700K who is taking over.

Thief buys mtgox with his 700k bitcoins and assasins gunning for mtgox staff. Runs the exchange better for months. Runs off with 1000k bitcoins after a few months of money laundering. Most banks shut their doors to bitcoin withdrawals and adopt much of the technology in bitcoin that they can freely get from the source code. The bank wins, the thieves win, everyone else gets goxed.

I don't think it's anywhere near that bad but I believe they have major problems that a potential investor would shy away from. I don't know how bad it really is, but I know at the current volume and in the near foreseeable future, the money they lost to the FBI alone makes the business unprofitable if they wish to repay this debt in any reasonable time frame.

The trading fees will need to double or triple at minimum to even have a hope of recovery before civil action.

Thats why I made up this story of the thief taking over Gox - if all the Bitcoins are stolen, he is the only "investor" who could possibly be interested. Entertaining thought, although it falls over Occam's razor. Should write a novel about it...

Unless the new owners have been buying GOXBTC on bitcoinbuilder at an 80% discount. This is going to be a bigger conspiracy than JFK.

Here is a fact that I just made up. Gox has actually been using customer funds to build the biggest mining machine ever. But they made it too powerful, and it ruptured the space-time continuum which caused JFK to be "goxxed."

No way man. JFK was definitely aliens.

Just speculation but maybe the WINKLEVOSS twins are buying the exchange ?  They have the most to loose if Bitcoin goes under.

The Winklevoss speculation is as good as any other, but whatever comes out of that, Bitcoin will not go under. That stupid volatility is a temporary obstacle for wider adoption, but that is it.

I agree that bitcoin is not going under , at least not due to this.  Perhaps I should say the have the most to loose from a price decline and they can backstop their investment but restoring confidence in the market.

what a beautiful non-statement

New statement from mt. Gox website.


"Dear MtGox Customers,
In light of recent news reports and the potential repercussions on MtGox's operations and the market, a decision was taken to close all transactions for the time being in order to protect the site and our users. We will be closely monitoring the situation and will react accordingly.
Best regards,
MtGox Team"

Interesting.....

From MTGOX.COM

TRANSLATION: "Hmm let's monitor the fact that we lost people's money and see if the money somehow magically reappears!"


 :D

Karpeles is such a typical shill.  Always lying, always deceitful.  I'm pretty sure they're about to get bought out.  This will be good news for Bitcoin.  A relatively graceful exit for Gox ..

Who is going to buy into a 350 million USD liability, which given Bitcoin's history could easily turn onto a 3.5 billion USD or 35 billion USD liability?

Businesses fail, money is stolen, but the core of Bitcoin is strong and useful; when you buy 1BTC you know that there will not be an authority that will create a lot more BTC so its value should remain the same or increase with adoption

The western countries are heading to a huge economical storm, it will unfold within 2years : the dollar will crash, Europe's debt and corruption will bring political uncertainties (or civil wars), having bitcoins or gold seem like a good bet

This is the best thing that could have happened for Bitcoin -- to finally remove this ongoing and outsized nuisance. I would call them a cancer but they are not competent enough to be a deadly disease. I was afraid it would never happen.

I suppose parts of Mt Gox could be sold, although I cannot imagine any reputable entity making the purchase. They have a proven poorly designed system; probably better to start from scratch. They have basically invented a new intangible liability -- 'badwill'. This is the inverse of the intangible asset 'goodwill.' It's difficult to put a price on intangibles; the level of badwill they have culminated is massive. And of course they have massive tangible liability.

MF Global did not rise from the ashes. And nobody is clamoring to resurrect their name. I wouldn't expect a different outcome from Gox. The third-party review looks to me very preliminary and simply outlines a basic plan. I think there is an element of best case scenario/wishful thinking in it....

Does anyone have anything constructive to say regarding their take on the 750K coins? Seems astronomical....

1) We don't know their liability.
2) If the liability is in BTC, one could argue that the liability is owed at the last price of a coin on Gox.
3) The company may undergo bankruptcy proceedings, which will alleviate most if not all of their debts (not sure how it works in JP).
4) They're the oldest name in the business.
5) Exchanges are cash cows.  It may only take a year or two to cover their liabilities.
6) It's clear from the joint insolvency letter that some heavyweights intend to help with the liabilities .. somehow.

I wouldn't just dismiss the possibility of them being bought out so casually as you have.

I take it you are referring to the Coinbase et al statement? Yes I had to read it twice but then I understood clearly that they are not offering to help with Gox's problems. They are referring to protecting their customer's funds from future problems.

If MtGox is being bought out by someone that can run it properly than there should be thousands of "thumbs up" for that.

We will see though.  With Gox it is better to have as low of expectations as possible.

I agree that there is intent for a turnaround and they will certainly be discussing this with many groups, and there is the possibility of selling-off limited assets. I don't know much about Japanese bankruptcy law.....

MF Global was the largest entity in the futures industry -- a whale that was the backbone of anything futures and commodity derivative related. They are still tied up in litigation with no hope of resurrection (not even an option). I assure you that Coinbase or any of the other U.S. entities will not be bailing out Mt. Gox. I do not see anything in their joint PR that alludes to them helping in any way, shape or form with Gox liabilities. Where are you seeing this???

And IMO there is no hope of a resurrected Gox....unless of course this draft is some type of ploy that they released to make it look like a third party is involved. Maybe he is actually planning to sell the functional Mt Gox assets to a company that he owns for pennies (so he can back out of the liability and start fresh) then install a figurehead or partner to run the new 'Gox' while he silently owns shares in the background through a nominee shareholder. He can then train new CEO, etc.

Maybe that's their plan.....and they released the 'leak' draft on purpose. Conspiratorial but very possible.

Leaked document ==

http://blog.cachinko.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/fake.png

Yeah it's a fake, but Karpeles himself confirms that it is “more or less” legitimate.

http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/2014/02/25/mt-gox-ceo-says-on-internet-chat-hasnt-given-up/

Well, if it's fake, then it's less legitimate.

I would buy it if I were able to lay out all of the terms to the site member/customers, so that they know exactly what is happening every reconstruction, rebranding, and repositioning step of the way.  I would not buy it unless I had the actual cooperation of the membership.   Rest assured, everything would go up: service quality, security, rates, value, and appreciation.

Take special note, the price would be no higher than $1, but no one would lose a dime from insolvency or foul play. 

If I would buy MtGOX for $1 (providing most money was lost and I am full owner from the GO) I would give out shares/dividend in BTC/USD to all people who have a debt.
This way you can repay everyone over time even compensating them if they have faith in the company over time. The company would remain to have money to operate.

Ofcourse hire capable people for running the show in a safe and secure manner. No more lost cold wallets :P
Hire a trusted external party(s) to regularly audit the company (incl. books) and take advise seriously.
Put up an apology to all people who got screwed over and commit to a repay through shares/dividend system.

Make internal changes like restaffing allmost everyone (atleast management and programmers).
Provide social media and good and regular updates of the status. Communicate to the world in an open manner.
Limit witdrawls and ease open the gates until a full free flow of money is allowed. (this is necessary to stop mass withdrawl)

I would not bother to change the name MtGOX, I would rebrand the logo to signify change in management.


But then again I've never run a company....

Oh no. Don't tell us we're going to be long-term shareholders in Gox! Is that our punishment?

Since were all having fun speculating im gonna say mtgox gets rescued by a consortium of investors led by the twins. They will purchase for a dollar and pay all liabilities.  The site gets a makeover and is rebranded and kaples resigns.  Their trading platform gets enhanced and the reopen with atkeast some of their customers staying since its under new management.

No, not correct:

It really depends on how much BTC the hackers stole recently.
    Gox made more than enough last year to cover what the Feds stole.
Don't believe that?
Look at one single good day late last year (for example)
~74,000 BTC volume*~$1089.57USD/BTC = ~$80,628,180*~1%fees = ~$806,281.80 in one single (above average) day

Gox made more than enough last year to cover what the Feds stole.

It's not that simple. The Gross Revenue is a far cry from the Net Income. Financial Service businesses operate in a very expensive racket. Look at other financial exchanges, e-trade for example...

e-trade does more than $250 Billion per year in trade; in 2013 they profited 0.03% (that's three hundredths of 1%.) They closed out 2012 in a deficit, and profited 0.09% in 2011.

It's not a cheap field to operate a business in, and I expect Gox doesn't get to exempt themselves from the costs that other Financial Exchange businesses are subjected to.

If Gox can net 1% of their Gross Income at the end of the year without considering any repayment for seized funds, that would be a banner year...