Print Page - Mt.Gox new Terms of Service

Fsck'ing legalese... feel free to just read the non-quoted sections, which will be my best-effort interpretation. There may be a little embellishment.

On with the (incredibly boring) show.

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Terms of Use
Last updated on January 20, 2012

These Terms and Conditions (the “Terms”) set out the conditions under which K.K. Mt.Gox, a company incorporated under the laws of Japan with a registered address at Sarugaokacho 26-1, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Japan and its affiliates (hereinafter, “Mt. Gox”) offer you use of the Mt. Gox website at https://mtgox.com/ (the "Site") and access to the Mt. Gox Platform (the “Platform”). Please read these Terms carefully and do not use the Site or the Platform unless you accept them.

Standard info.

It would be nice to perform due diligence on "K.K. Mt.Gox" beyond what we already know about the company, since it seems to have become pretty quiet in regard to the community.

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The Platform, managed by Mt. Gox, allows buyers (“Buyers”) and sellers (“Sellers”), to buy and sell the internet commodity known as “Bitcoin(s)”. It also allows all registered users of the Platform (“Members”) to transfer funds and Bitcoins to other Members and to use Bitcoins for purchasing specific items.

Depending on their country of residence, Members may not access all the functions of the Site.

By opening an account to use the Platform ("Account") Members represent and warrant:

they have accepted these Terms; and
they are at least 18 years of age and have the full capacity to accept these Terms and enter into a transaction resulting on the Platform

Blah blah, activities and catch-all age-related stuff.

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Mt. Gox reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to change, add or remove portions of these Terms, at any time. You will be notified of such changes a month in advance through your Account and upon such notification it is your responsibility to review the amended Terms. Your continued use of the Site following the posting of changes will mean that you accept and agree to the changes. You agree that all subsequent transactions by you will be subject to these Terms. As long as you comply with these Terms and any such modifications, Mt. Gox grants you a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicensable, limited right to enter and use the Site and the Platform.

Your acceptance of these Terms, as amended from time to time, gives Mt. Gox a mandate to bring together Sellers and Buyers to trade on the Platform according to the following clauses as well as perform the functions described hereinbelow.

Anything can change, but you will be notified one month in advance. That notification is a courtesy, not an obligation.

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DEFINITIONS

Platform: means the technical, functional and organisational structure managed by Mt. Gox to allow Sellers and Buyers to conclude a complete purchase and sale transaction of Bitcoins.

Bitcoins: means the Peer-to-Peer internet commodity further described at http://bitcoin.org.

Seller(s): means Member(s) that are submitting an offer to sell Bitcoins on the Platform.

Buyer(s): means Member(s) that are submitting an offer to buy Bitcoins on the Platform.

Member(s): means Buyers and Sellers as well as any holder of an Account.

Transaction: means (i) the agreement between the Buyer and the Seller to exchange Bitcoins on the Platform for currencies at a commonly agreed rate (“Bitcoin Purchase Transaction”), (ii) the conversion of currencies deposited by Members on their account (“Conversion Transaction”), (iii) the transfer of Bitcoins among Members (“Bitcoin Transfer Transaction”), (iv) the transfer of currencies among Members (“Currency Transfer Transaction”) and (v) the purchase of products such as USB secure keys (“Purchase Transactions”).

Price: means “price per coin” for which Members are willing to purchase or sell Bitcoins, using the Platform in a Bitcoin Purchase Transaction. The Price may be expressed in any of the currencies deposited by Members in their account and supported by the Platform. Members may deposit different currencies in their account. Currencies currently available are US dollars, Euros, Japanese yen, Canadian dollars, British pounds, Swiss francs, Russian rouble, Australian dollar, Swedish krona, Danish krones, Norwegian krones, Hong-Kong dollars, Polish zlotys, Chinese yuan renminbis, Singapore dollars, Thai bahts and New Zealand dollars.

Transaction Price: means the total price paid by the Buyer in respect of each Transaction performed on the Platform.

Commission: refers to the fee which is payable to Mt. Gox on each Transaction. For Bitcoin Purchase Transactions, the applicable commission will vary according to the amount and type of the Transaction as well as the Member’s last 30-day trading volume. The list of applicable Commissions for Bitcoin Purchase Transaction is available here: https://mtgox.com/fee-schedule. For Conversion Transactions, Mt. Gox will charge a fixed commission of 2.5% calculated and applied on the amount of currencies being converted. No Commissions will be charged on Bitcoin Transfer Transactions and Currency Transfer Transactions. For Purchase Transactions, the price payable by Members will be the price of the goods offered for sale by Mt. Gox at the price advertised on the Platform.

Normal stuff; specific descriptions of the service, activities permitted, and how fees are applied.

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YOUR ACCOUNT

Members are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of their Account information, including their password, and for all activity including Transactions that occur under their Account. Members agree to notify Mt. Gox immediately of any unauthorized use of their Account or password, or any other breach of security by email addressed to security@mtgox.com. Members will be held liable for losses incurred by Mt. Gox or any other user of the Site due to someone else using their password or user account. Members shall not use any Account other than their own or access the Account of another Member at any time. Members may not attempt to gain unauthorized access to the Site, and any attempt to do so or to assist others (Members or otherwise) to do so, or distribution of instructions, software or tools for that purpose, will result in the Accounts of such Members being terminated, and this does not limit the right of Mt. Gox to take any other action against you.

If your account is compromised/cracked/hacked, it's your fault and you're responsible for covering all damages for everyone involved - even Mt. Gox losses.

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Members agree to provide Mt.Gox with accurate, current and complete information about themselves as prompted by the registration process, and keep such information updated. In addition, Members may update any of their Account information, or designate a different payment option to be debited, by clicking on the account button and selecting the appropriate link.

Members may only have one Account at any one time and may not create or use any Account other than their own. For a Member to be exempt from any of these rules, he/she must request express and prior permission from the Platform. The creation or use of Accounts without obtaining such prior express permission from the Platform will lead to the immediate suspension of all said Accounts, as well as all pending purchase/sale offers.

Mt. Gox technically gets to keep all your loot if they discover:

you provided false information during registration or fail to keep it current
you create more than one account without permission

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Mt. Gox will request identification information (such as an identity card, invoices, Government issued photographic identification, utility bill, residential certificate, signed certification of cohabitation, or similar, banking information) depending on the amounts deposited on the Accounts or the presence of suspicious activity which may indicate money-laundering or other illegal activity. Identification of the bank account from which funds are transferred to the Account may also be requested. In certain cases notarization of certain documents (including apostille) may be requested. Transactions may be frozen until the identity check has been considered satisfactory by Mt. Gox as required by applicable money laundering laws. Mt. Gox may request additional identification information at any time at the request of any competent authority or by application of any applicable law or regulation.

Accounts may be used strictly for the purposes defined in these Terms.

If Gox is pressured by any organization, your identifying information will be demanded, including your underwear size and sexual partner history. Assets will be frozen until you kneel and accept America as your master. Or the Troika, whichever isn't too busy laughing while playing golf with a broke college student's testicles.

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PLATFORM TRANSACTION PROCESS FOR BITCOIN PURCHASE TRANSACTIONS

The Platform allows Buyers to submit offers to purchase Bitcoins and Sellers to submit offers to sell Bitcoins. The Price for which Members offer to purchase or sell Bitcoins is at their discretion.

Members recognise that their offers should only be submitted after careful consideration and once submitted Members are prepared to enter into a Bitcoin Purchase Transaction with another Member. Therefore, offers made by Sellers and Buyers on the Platform represent their unconditional acceptance to be bound by an agreement as soon as the Price set in their offer matches with the Price set in an offer submitted by a Buyer or Seller, respectively. Sellers and Buyers agree that as soon as their respective offers are matched, such offers are binding and may not be withdrawn. The Bitcoin Purchase Transactions will be completed instantaneously upon the matching of the Buyer's and Seller's offers, without prior notice to the Seller and Buyer, and will be considered to have taken place at that date and time.

Whether acting as Buyer or Seller in a Bitcoin Purchase Transaction, Members recognise that the matching of their offers for the sale and purchase of Bitcoins is a service provided by Mt. Gox via the Platform and as such once Buyers' and Sellers' offers have been matched any right they may have to cancel any Bitcoin Purchase Transaction under the Distance Selling Directive 97/7/EC will be lost once this service has been performed.

Market rules - buyers and sellers agree on a price, then trade. It's a binding contract and can't be undone.

I'm not familiar with the "Distance Selling Directive" - anyone else? It isn't safe to assume anything with lawyer crap, but I'm guessing it's related to certain transactions being non-reversible.

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Sellers acknowledge and agree that the payment of the Price in relation to the Bitcoin Purchase Transaction in the name and on behalf of the Buyer, may be delayed due to bank verifications, for a period of up to 1 month. Similarly and due to the inherent nature of the Bitcoin network, Buyers acknowledge and agree that withdrawing, depositing or otherwise receiving Bitcoins into their account may take between one (1) hour and twenty-four (24) hours, barring unforeseen or unavoidable network issues.

Upon matching of the offers of Buyer and Seller, Mt. Gox has the sole authority to permit the transfer of the amount corresponding to the Transaction Price minus the Commission from the Buyer’s Account to the Seller.

Bitcoin receipt could take up to 24 hours, if the network is up. It could be up to a month before other funding types clear.

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PLATFORM TRANSACTION PROCESS FOR CONVERSION TRANSACTIONS

The Platform allows Members to convert the currencies deposited into their account into any other currency. This will be performed either by the Platform, or by the transferring bank.

The conversion rate applicable to the Conversion Transaction shall be in general the conversion rate published on the website of the European Central Bank on the date where the Conversion Transaction shall be initiated by the Member.

Members recognize that although their account shall be immediately and automatically updated to reflect the Conversion Transaction, the actual conversion may take time depending on the availability of banking services and bank verifications. Accordingly, withdrawal of currencies from a Member’s account may not be possible until the Conversion Transaction has actually been completed.

A fixed Commission of 2.5% shall apply to all Conversion Transactions which are performed by the Platform, and shall be deducted directly from the amount converted. The Commission shall be calculated on the amount of currency converted.

In cases where Conversion Transactions are performed by a bank as part of a deposit, a variable Commission of up to 2.5% shall apply. This rate is specific to the bank performing the transaction.

Funds can be converted from any denomination to any other for up to a 2.5% fee, and it could be delayed; same goes for withdrawals. The exchange rates are obtained from the ECB.

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PLATFORM TRANSACTION PROCESS FOR BITCOIN TRANSFER TRANSACTIONS

Members may at any time transfer any amount of Bitcoins to any other Members as well as any other Bitcoin users even if they are not Members (the “Transferee”).

Bitcoin Transfer Transactions may be initiated at any time from the following page: https://mtgox.com/index.html. Transferees shall be identified by their bitcoin address.

Members shall be solely responsible for ensuring that any transfer of Bitcoins to a Transferee shall be a valid and legal transaction not infringing any laws including money-laundering laws and regulations.

Mt. Gox’s responsibility shall be limited to using reasonable technical efforts to ensure the receipt of the Bitcoins transferred. When conducting Bitcoin Transfer Transactions with a Bitcoin user who is not a Member, Mt. Gox’s responsibility shall be further limited to ensuring the transfer of the necessary technical data to the Bitcoin peer-to-peer network.

No Commission of any kind will be charged by Mt. Gox for Bitcoin Transfer Transactions.

Bitcoin transactions depend on the network and there are no associated Gox fees for BTC-to-BTC transfers.

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PLATFORM TRANSACTION PROCESS FOR CURRENCY TRANSFER TRANSACTIONS

Members may at any time transfer any amount of currencies held on their Account to any other Members (the “Transferee”). Transfers to third parties who are not Members is not possible.

Currency Transfer Transactions may be initiated at any time from the following page: https://mtgox.com/index.html. Transferees shall be identified by their Account name.

Members shall be solely responsible for ensuring that any transfer of currencies to a Transferee shall be a valid and legal transaction not infringing any laws including money-laundering laws and regulations.

Mt. Gox’s responsibility shall be limited to using reasonable technical efforts to ensure the receipt of the currencies transferred.

No Commission of any kind will be charged by Mt. Gox for Currency Transfer Transactions, except when the Account of the Transferee is set up in a currency different than the currency transferred (in which case the 2.5% Commission shall automatically apply).

Member to member non-BTC transfers are dandy. Fees of up to 2.5% only apply when performing currency conversion.

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PLATFORM TRANSACTION PROCESS FOR PURCHASE TRANSACTIONS

Members may purchase a USB secure key “YubiKey” at the conditions and price set forth at https://yubikey.mtgox.com/. The USB secure key allows a Member to manage his/her Mt. Gox account more securely. A manufacturer’s warranty is provided with the USB secure key. Please refer to the details of the manufacturer's warranty at http://www.yubico.com/yubikey. Mt. Gox shall not replace any key lost by a Member.

Members may also purchase Bitcoin gift codes at the conditions and price set forth at https://mtgox.com/trade/funding-options. Gift codes are redeemable by any Member and may be delivered by emailing the gift code to the receiving Member. Mt. Gox shall not be responsible should the gift codes not be redeemed. Gift codes are valid until redeemed. Gift codes are refundable at any time.

Gox offers 2FA via YubiKey. You lose it, you're buggered - no replacements.

Gox codes are available and your responsibility when purchased.

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MT. GOX'S OBLIGATIONS

Except in the case of Purchase Transactions, Members acknowledge and agree that, when completing Transactions, they are trading with other Members, and Members accept that Mt. Gox acts only as an intermediary in such Transactions and not as a counterparty to any trade. It is thus the Members’ and should the case arise, the Sellers’ and the Buyers’ responsibility to comply with any and all laws and regulations relating to the Transactions.

Mt. Gox represents and warrants that:

   it will use all reasonable care and skill in facilitating the matching of offers of the Members on the Site via the Platform to conclude Transactions.
   all purchase and sale offers, as well as Bitcoin Purchase Transactions, made on the Platform, will be managed in an anonymous manner so that Buyers and Sellers will not know each other.
   the Transaction Price is calculated on the basis of actual matched offers made by Buyers and Sellers participating in the bidding process on the Platform combined with the applicable Commission.
   once offers to buy or sell Bitcoins are matched, such offers may not be withdrawn.
   Transfer of Bitcoins in a Transfer Transaction may not be withdrawn.
   it will hold all monetary sums and all Bitcoins deposited by each Member in its Account, in that Member's name as registered in their Account details, and on such Member's behalf.
   it shall comply with any and all laws and regulations relating to offering the Platform.

If a Member contravenes these Terms, Mt. Gox reserves the right to suspend his/her Account and block all monetary sums or Bitcoins contained therein.

The Platform is not intended to provide any legal, tax, insurance or investment advice. Tools available on the Site such as the “Trade Data” webpage accessible at https://mtgox.com/trade/history only provide Members with general information related to Transactions formerly performed on the Platform and should not be construed as investment education or advice provided by Mt. Gox. Members are solely responsible for determining whether any contemplated Transaction is appropriate for them based on their personal goals, financial status and risk willingness.

Mt. Gox is not a market maker, it only facilitates anonymous contact between buyers & sellers, and storage for deposited funds. Gox is not at fault because of any illegal actions you may take, nor is it responsible.

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MEMBERS’ OBLIGATIONS

Members represent and warrant that they will only use the Platform to perform Transactions in accordance with the conditions set forth in these Terms and that they are duly authorized and have the capacity to enter into the Transactions on the Platform.

Seller warrants that the Bitcoins offered to sell or to transfer correspond to actual Bitcoins.

Buyer warrants that the currencies deposited to buy the Bitcoins are actual currencies corresponding to actual assets in its bank account and coming from legal sources.

Members agree that they will not use the Platform to perform any type of illegal activity of any sort, including, but not limited to, money laundering, terrorism financing, or negatively affect the performances of the Platform.

Members agree that, whenever a Transaction is made, the Platform sends and receives the monetary sums and/or Bitcoins from the Buyer and the Seller’s Accounts in their name and on their behalf, through the IT system in place on the Platform at the time of the Transaction.

Your Bitcoins must be real Bitcoins (lol?), any other funds must be real funds, and you won't do anything "bad" as defined by politicians.

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INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND LINKING

All intellectual property rights vested in texts, images, or any other content found on or related to the Platform are owned by Mt. Gox. Accordingly, Members may not copy, distribute, reproduce, republish, upload, transmit, modify, post, frame-in or otherwise use in any way any such content without the prior express authorization of Mt. Gox.

Mt. Gox property or that of our suppliers or licensors and is protected by patent, trademark and/or copyright under Japanese, English and/or foreign laws and may not be used without Mt. Gox express written consent.

Unless Mt. Gox gives it express prior consent, other websites may only link to the Platform by using the following address: https://mtgox.com/, to the exclusion of any deep link.

Mt. Gox-related stuff is patented, trademarked, copyrighted, copylefted, underwritten, and probably somewhere in the bible.

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LIABILITY

Members represent and warrant that they are the legitimate owners and are allowed to use all monetary sums and Bitcoins deposited on their Account and that the Transactions being carried out do not infringe the rights of any third party or applicable laws. Members who are not consumers ("Business Members") will indemnify Mt. Gox for any and all damages suffered and all liability actions brought against Mt. Gox for infringement of third party rights or violation of applicable laws.

To the extent permitted by law, Mt. Gox will not be held liable for any damages, loss of profit, loss of revenue, loss of business, loss of opportunity, loss of data, indirect or consequential loss unless the loss suffered is caused by a breach of these Terms by Mt. Gox.

Mt Gox cannot be held liable for any malfunction, breakdown, delay or interruption to the internet connection, or if for any reason our site is unavailable at any time or for any period. Where our site contains links to other sites and resources provided by third parties, these links are provided for your information only. We have no control over the contents of those sites or resources, and accept no responsibility for them or for any loss or damage that may arise from your use of them.

In the case of fraud, Mt. Gox will report all necessary information, including names, addresses and all other requested information, to the relevant authorities dealing with fraud and breaches of the law. Members recognize that their account may be frozen at any time at the request of any competent authority investigating a fraud or any other illegal activity.

To the extent that a Member operates and uses the Site and the Platform other than in the course of its business ("Consumer"), nothing in these Terms shall affect the statutory rights of such Members.

Nothing in these terms excludes or limits the liability of either party for fraud, death or personal injury caused by its negligence, breach of terms implied by operation of law, or any other liability which may not by law be limited or excluded.

Subject to the foregoing, Mt. Gox's aggregate liability in respect of claims based on events arising out of or in connection with a Member's use of the Site and/or Platform, whether in contract or tort (including negligence) or otherwise, shall in no circumstances exceed the greater of either (a) the total amount held on Account for the Member making a claim less any amount of Commission that may be due and payable in respect of such Account; or (b) 125% of the amount of the Transaction(s) that are the subject of the claim less any amount of Commission that may be due and payable in respect of such Transaction(s).

Nothing is Mt. Gox's fault, and the service will comply with all pressure from any influential government. If Gox is somehow liable, the max penalty will be either the member's total account balance or 125% of the transaction(s) in question (minus fees, of course).

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TERMINATION

These Terms may be terminated without reason by either party providing the other with reasonable prior notice, receipt of which shall be promptly acknowledged in writing by the other party. Such termination will be effective when the terminating party receives the acknowledgment in writing of its notice to terminate from the other party. Such termination shall not affect the obligations or rights of either party under these Terms which had accrued prior to the notice of termination, nor the Transactions and its related obligations and rights concluded before such termination was effective.

Mt. Gox may by notice to Members discontinue or modify the Platform and/or revise or terminate these Terms at any time. Members are deemed to have accepted these revisions or termination to the extent that they continue using the Platform. Upon such notice, Members may request a refund of any fund balances in their Accounts by writing to Mt. Gox at support@mtgox.com within 60 days of receiving notice from Mt. Gox of the discontinuation or material modification of the Platform. Alternatively, Mt. Gox will before discontinuing the Platform send to all Members such fund balances by transferring such amounts into the bank account of affected Members using the most recent bank details provided by such Members.

Should they wish to terminate their agreement with Mt. Gox, Members may close his/her Account at any time.

If you don't like any changes Gox makes, you have 60 days to get out or shut up.

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Members also agree that Mt. Gox may, in its sole discretion by giving notice, terminate Members' access to the Site and their Account, including without limitation: limit, suspend or terminate the service and Members' Accounts, prohibit access to the Site and its content, services and tools, delay or remove hosted content, and take technical and legal steps to keep Members off the Site if we think that they are creating problems or possible legal liabilities, infringing the intellectual property rights of third parties, or acting inconsistently with the letter or spirit of these Terms. Additionally, we may, in appropriate circumstances and at our discretion, suspend or terminate Accounts of Members for any reason, including without limitation: (1) attempts to gain unauthorized access to the Site or another Member’s account or providing assistance to others' attempting to do so, (2) overcoming software security features limiting use of or protecting any content, (3) usage of the Platform to perform illegal activities such as money laundering, terrorism financing or other criminal activities, (4) violations of these Terms, (5) failure to pay or fraudulent payment for Transactions, (6) unexpected operational difficulties, or (7) requests by law enforcement or other government agencies.

We also reserve the right to cancel unconfirmed Accounts or Accounts that have been inactive for a period of 6 months or more, or to modify or discontinue our Site or Platform. Members agree that Mt. Gox will not be liable to them or to any third party for termination of their Account or access to the Site.

Mt. Gox can freeze, seize, and close your account. That can be done for anything decided by "law enforcement or other government agencies" because of the supremely vague wording on the reasons. If the King of Prussia says people who were born in April are enemies of the state, they just lost all their money held at Gox. Absurd? Yes. That doesn't mean it isn't a possibility.

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Members acknowledge and agree that their Account may be suspended until they provide Mt. Gox with documents evidencing their identity and/or any other information that Mt. Gox deems necessary to secure the Accounts, the Transactions and/or the Platform.

The suspension of an Account has consequences for the future and shall not affect the payment of the commissions due for past Transactions. Therefore, despite the Account having been suspended for whatever reason under these Terms, the Member must still pay the Commission(s) which were due before the date of suspension.

If documentation of identifying information is requested, you can't get to your money until Gox (or whomever is pressuring Gox) is happy with it. No utility bills printed on white paper accepted? No money for you. Oh, and you still have to pay the fees, including any that may have accrued over time.

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Upon termination, Members shall communicate a valid bank account to allow for the transfer of the currencies held on their account. Said bank account shall be held by the Member and shall be located in the same country from which funds initially originated (and in the case where funds originated from several countries, transfers shall be possible only to a valid bank account from which significant funds originated). Bitcoins may be transferred to a valid bank account only after conversion into a currency. Mt. Gox shall exercise reasonable efforts in transferring the currencies as soon as possible following the Member’s request provided, however, that any transaction fees levied by any bank intervening between the paying bank and the receiving bank (including the paying bank and the receiving bank) shall be deducted from the currencies transferred.

In the case where Members do not wish to make use of the functionalities of the Platform after having transferred currencies on their account, they may request that said currencies be returned to them. In this case, the same procedure as stipulated under the preceding paragraph shall apply.

If Gox kicks you out, you can only get your money back by bank transfer. You also have to pay any related fees incurred by the transfer.

There's nothing about Bitcoin for recieving funds post account termination. That raises a flag...

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DATA PRIVACY

When you open an Account to use the Platform or otherwise use this Site we may ask you to provide us with personal information about yourself. Personal information that you provide to Mt. Gox through this Site shall be subject to our privacy policy. You can read our current privacy policy by clicking here.

MISCELLANEOUS

In case of a force majeure event as defined by applicable law, the liabilities of the affected party to these Terms will be suspended pending resolution of such event.

If a competent judicial authority deems any provision of the Terms unenforceable, that provision will be enforced to the maximum extent permissible, and all remaining provisions will remain in full force and effect.

CONTACT US

If you have any questions relating to these Terms, your rights and obligations arising from these Terms and/or your use of the Site and the Platform, your Account, or any other matter, please do not hesitate to contact Mt.Gox at support@mtgox.com.

Blah blah blah...

The real threat isn't necessarily from Mt. Gox, but institutions that could pressure the exchange (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=63790.msg747666#msg747666). Those could include big banks, governments, etc...

At least Japan could be Bitcoin-friendly if it decides that it's destroyed the Yen enough to make adopting anything better than continuing the idiocy.

Edit: Son-of-a... https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=64069

Bitcoin Forum

Economy => Trading Discussion => Topic started by: Spekulatius on February 15, 2012, 04:53:35 PM