What happens if Mt. Gox suddenly goes away?

[JimCGSavings]

Say the U.S. government is not happy with Mt. Gox's response to the "Dwolla lesson." Not happy with Mt. Gox continuing to face U.S. citizens with a non-FinCen compliant exchange that "handles over 80% of all Bitcoin trade." Say they take the next step and go after Mt. Gox directly. Freeze its assets, domain, issue warrants, go after any business using them to offer goods or services using BTC, etc. Full blown all out campaign to stop Mt. Gox's ability to function at all. What happens to Bitcoin?

[1715155838]

1715155838

[Noitev]

The price would probably get killed since it's the number one exchange, but it is still a 3rd party, I'm sure another would pop up (or one existing one would get more customers) and it would restabilize

[Welsh]

We'll all organise a party, get some pizza's in and buy/sell from a better exchange.

[Yinkle7]

Didn't Max Keiser recently state on his show he was trying to set up a Bitcoin exchange in London, England. This I think will be opposed by the City of London banking cartel, but I think he will do it somewhere.

[BitshireHashaway]

I think at first the price would tank but it would recover quickly as people switch to rival exchanges.

[RodeoX]

+1 to what everyone is saying.

[zeocrash]

We celebrate and start using better exchanges?

We'll all organise a party, get some pizza's in and buy/sell from a better exchange.

This ^^^



I expect an invite to this party btw.

[HeroC]

Price plummets, below $10 I expect.  Then BTC-E rises and slowly the price restores itself.

[bitcoinscanada]

We celebrate and start using better exchanges?

+1

[zahra4576]

Better for them, because I don't like Mtgox at all. BTC-E hope it would dominate over mtgox.

[parroquiano]

1. I would there buying cheap coins
2. Hold them until another exchange takes over
3.
4. Profit!!!

[Kluge]

The market obviously thinks MtGox should die. It totally boggles my mind, but the price is spiking a little bit, going over $120 -- this might be related to some very recent and major progressions in merchant adoption, or that SR is functioning properly again, but the price did hold pretty steady while the Gox news broke and worsened. I guess we'll see $1000 coins when all the non-compliant exchanges open to US customers (just about all of them) are shut down with funds seized. MtGox probably will die within the next couple years between the bank seizures, Dwolla severing, and valid-seeming $75m lawsuit. If it's CoinLab which kills them, they might at least compensate shafted customers with CL-USD/CL-BTC. Idunno, though. I apparently over-reacted, because I completely sold out a few days ago and won't be going back in until the price tanks or someone challenges Bitcoin legally being a currency in court and wins.

[Spieder]

Probably cause a short term destabilizing situation for all crypto currencies,  at a minimum.

[Birdy]

[...]because I completely sold out a few days ago and won't be going back in until the price tanks or someone challenges Bitcoin legally being a currency in court and wins.

Never sell all your coins o,O

[JimCGSavings]

Now add the sudden cessation of the SatoshiDice effect.

[Vikerus]

The price would probably get killed since it's the number one exchange, but it is still a 3rd party, I'm sure another would pop up (or one existing one would get more customers) and it would restabilize

I don't see how it would lose value. Seems retarded that just cause the exchange of coins on one market is removed that people become incapable of working around such a simple road block. Seriously it's like everyone is programmed to think that is just the way it is. And as soon as something remotely out of their hands happens the sky begins falling. Prices aren't volatile, people are. And the sooner we all learn to regulate fear of market collapse the sooner we will have the "Market" off our backs. Instead of the market deciding our moves. We should be actively deciding how the market moves.

I'm sure this seems a retarded point to an "economist"
But I don't think it's without its truth.

[parroquiano]

Vikerus, do you realize that "the market" is actually people? That means "the market" is comprised not only of rational people like you and me --which would actually shrug it off if Mt.Gox goes away-- but also speculators, scammers, fools, people without a clue, people waiting to manipulate the price, etc. A substantial part of the Bitcoin market is irrational.

[iram1068]

Mtgox is sh!t is anyway. Most probably the price will collapse. And that is the great time to buy cause the price will increase very soon.

[JimCGSavings]

These actions seem to be causing the start of a U.S. government created pump and dump cycle. Accidental or not, that'd be interesting. (grin)

[jeremydei]

probablly nothing, none of the other exchanges can do enough volume to make the price go haywire like gox can.