What would stop MtGox from

[SuperHakka]

If Bitcoins go to $0, do they really care? There's no more exchanges in that case. They declare bankruptcy. Liquidate the assets. Companies go broke all the time. If losing millions was a crime, we wouldn't have any corporations left. MtGox is tied to BTC, sink or swim. They might think this gives Bitcoin the backing/stability it needs to go to the next level.

There isn't a bank in America that has the cash on hand to handle everyone withdrawing their balances. The banking industry is legalized gambling, but MtGox wouldn't stoop to that? I don't know.

dude you sound like gangsta. thing is the banks own all the guns. what does Mt gox have, fuck all I'd say. they would string up mr gox from nearest lamppost. any who would implement this would be the dumbest dumbfuck in town.

[gimme_bottles]

mtgox is an exchange, not a bank. it's banks business to speculate with clients funds. exchanges don't (or shouldn't).

They're not an exchange. They're a pretend exchange of a virtual currency. Post a link to the rules/laws/regulations MtGox, as an official "exchange" of Japan has to follow. Do they really report to the JFSA (Japan Financial Services Agency)? Come on now.

of course they are not an official exchange, but they work like an exchange. still, you can't compare mtgox to any banks.

[fitty]

If Bitcoins go to $0, do they really care? There's no more exchanges in that case. They declare bankruptcy. Liquidate the assets. Companies go broke all the time. If losing millions was a crime, we wouldn't have any corporations left. MtGox is tied to BTC, sink or swim. They might think this gives Bitcoin the backing/stability it needs to go to the next level.

There isn't a bank in America that has the cash on hand to handle everyone withdrawing their balances. The banking industry is legalized gambling, but MtGox wouldn't stoop to that? I don't know.

dude you sound like gangsta. thing is the banks own all the guns. what does Mt gox have, fuck all I'd say. they would string up mr gox from nearest lamppost. any who would implement this would be the dumbest dumbfuck in town.

He'd go "We thought Bitcoin had a bright future, didn't pan out". You don't go to jail for being bad at business. Companies go bankrupt and lose their ass all the time. MtGox is bootleg as fuck but people seem to think they're all legit and above board. So the biggest reason so far is because MtGox is morally above gambling people's money on Bitcoin's future. Hrm. Yeah.  

[fitty]

mtgox is an exchange, not a bank. it's banks business to speculate with clients funds. exchanges don't (or shouldn't).

They're not an exchange. They're a pretend exchange of a virtual currency. Post a link to the rules/laws/regulations MtGox, as an official "exchange" of Japan has to follow. Do they really report to the JFSA (Japan Financial Services Agency)? Come on now.

of course they are not an official exchange, but they work like an exchange. still, you can't compare mtgox to any banks.

So they don't have to follow the rules of a real exchange, but they're going to anyway? MtGox can (and has and does) spend the money that's been deposited. You really think they keep 100% cash on hand to cover withdrawals? Really? They never operated at a loss? They have mountains of cash on hand to cover everyone? People really trust them that much?

You're saying that regulated banks spend/gamble clients holdings, but an unregulated bootleg bitcoin exchange in Japan, they'd never dare use clients holdings to cover investment/expenses/costs? Come on now.

[gimme_bottles]

mtgox is an exchange, not a bank. it's banks business to speculate with clients funds. exchanges don't (or shouldn't).

They're not an exchange. They're a pretend exchange of a virtual currency. Post a link to the rules/laws/regulations MtGox, as an official "exchange" of Japan has to follow. Do they really report to the JFSA (Japan Financial Services Agency)? Come on now.

of course they are not an official exchange, but they work like an exchange. still, you can't compare mtgox to any banks.

So they don't have to follow the rules of a real exchange, but they're going to anyway? MtGox can (and has and does) spend the money that's been deposited. You really think they keep 100% cash on hand to cover withdrawals? Really? They never operated at a loss? They have mountains of cash on hand to cover everyone? People really trust them that much?

You're saying that regulated banks spend/gamble clients holdings, but an unregulated bootleg bitcoin exchange in Japan, they'd never dare use clients holdings to cover investment/expenses/costs? Come on now.

if you compare their performance to the trading volumes and their fees it is obvious that they can cover any costs of operation and still have a shitload of coins on hand.

[SuperHakka]

Can somebody tell me what the original business of mtgox.com was? I heard it was the website for Magic the Gathering Online Exchange, basically like a website for buying and selling of game cards for the MtG card game? Is that right?

[fitty]

if you compare their performance to the trading volumes and their fees it is obvious that they can cover any costs of operation and still have a shitload of coins on hand.

Which is my point, they should have the cash and coins to pull it off.

No one knows their expenses. How much are they paying the founders? 100k a year? 300k a year? They could be losing money for all we know. You can't look at trading volume and go "Yup, they're profitable". What exactly in their history tells you they're well run and financially sound? Lots of things would point to the fact they're a bumbling cluster fuck.

[ZephramC]

Maybe they'd run out of Bitcoins. They could always just shift the price point to $70-$80.
....

OK. MTGox sets $50-$60. Then bitcoins become much more popular and the opinion will be that the value of bitcoin is well above $200. MtGox runs out of bitcoins (all will be bought for $60). They will shift the price point to $70-$80 then to $90-$100 then to $140-$160. But nobody (or almost nobody) will sell BTC for (as little as) $140. What is next?
(MtGox is still out of BTC and plenty of angry customers are asking "Where are my BTC for $160 I paid for?!")