Is Coinbase really that much cheaper than Mtgox?

[barbarousrelic]

So I'm trying out Coinbase for the first time, and I'm waiting on my account confirmation, but in the meanwhile it says "Buy Amount ----- at $98.87 each"   - but mtgox is showing their last price at $112.50  There can't possibly be really that much difference (~14%) between the two, can there? What am I missing?

[ArticMine]

There are huge problems getting USD for that matter other fiat currencies EUR, CAD etc. out of MTGox so those who have USD, EUR, CAD etc trapped in MTGox are willing to pay a premium in order to get the money out in the form of BTC.

[barbarousrelic]

There are huge problems getting USD for that matter other fiat currencies EUR, CAD etc. out of MTGox so those who have USD, EUR, CAD etc trapped in MTGox are willing to pay a premium in order to get the money out in the form of BTC.

Oh, wow. I didn't realize it was that bad. Thank you.

[001sonkit]

Or a simpler answer. MtGox's Fiat is worth less as they cant be withdrawn. Thus the coins seems to "worth" more on Gox

[barbarousrelic]

Thank you for your responses.

So now that the Mtgox price can't be considered anything resembling the 'real' value of Bitcoin, what (in your opinion) is the most reliable exchange price to use? Something that I can track on bitcoincharts.com ?

[DeathAndTaxes]

Thank you for your responses.

So now that the Mtgox price can't be considered anything resembling the 'real' value of Bitcoin, what (in your opinion) is the most reliable exchange price to use? Something that I can track on bitcoincharts.com ?

In terms of volume bitstamp.  That is likely what coinbase is using for setting price anyways.  Still all the exchanges are within a few % of each other except MtGox which is a massive outlier to the upside simply because the price include a risk premium.  The market is saying if you sell coins for USD on MtGox there is a significant chance you will never see that money.  Now maybe MtGox fixes things in the future and if so we will see that risk premium decline but today the MtGox spot rate is essentially useless.

Nobody* uses it, even bitpay and blockchain.info switched to bitstamp for pricing.


* I have been informed the SR uses MtGox as the conversion rate for transactions so I guess once they stop using it, the rate will be a dead rate.  MtGox rate could go to $1,000 tomorrow (and is possible in a loss of confidence by the market) but it doesn't magically mean somehow Bitcoins are worth more.

[dhenson]

Thank you for your responses.

So now that the Mtgox price can't be considered anything resembling the 'real' value of Bitcoin, what (in your opinion) is the most reliable exchange price to use? Something that I can track on bitcoincharts.com ?

Whatever price someone is willing to pay is the real price.  If 100 people are willing to pay $110 and 30 people are willing to pay $98 then the 'real' price is closer to $110 than $98.

Check out http://bitcoinaverage.com

[solex]

Today I decided that MtGox was no longer even worth watching. So I have set my fav window into the real market value of Bitcoin like this:

http://bitcoinwisdom.com/markets/bitstamp/btcusd

Bye MtGox.  

[Hfleer]

Thank you for your responses.

So now that the Mtgox price can't be considered anything resembling the 'real' value of Bitcoin, what (in your opinion) is the most reliable exchange price to use? Something that I can track on bitcoincharts.com ?

Any of the various other popular exchanges are fairly close in price.

[faiza1990]

MtGox's is worth less as they can't be withdrawn. Thus the coins seems to worth more on MtGox

[yz]

There are huge problems getting USD for that matter other fiat currencies EUR, CAD etc. out of MTGox so those who have USD, EUR, CAD etc trapped in MTGox are willing to pay a premium in order to get the money out in the form of BTC.

I wouldn't even take my BTC out from GOX, please look at my current situation.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=277693.0

[BitCoinNutJob]

coinbase is now the same price as mt gox..... btce & bitstamp have the only cheaper Bitcoin left

[italeffect]

That's odd, I wonder why it just changed.

[BitCoinNutJob]

a deal has been made

[ffssixtynine]

A deal must have been made, yeah. Perhaps this is how Mt Gox are going to deal with their issues.

[BitCoinNutJob]

it wasn't a lie when i wrote it.

[italeffect]

Yep it's back down to bitstamp rates now

[ffssixtynine]

Verified here - was higher and then dropped again. Someone claimed to have used the service at the higher price over on Reddit.

So, has a deal been done or was this an admin mistake?

[BitCoinNutJob]

Yep it's back down to bitstamp rates now

still think they've struck a deal, we saw the prices the same there for a while hmmm

[italeffect]

and I check again and it's gone from $102 to $118 again.