GoxLoop™ discussion / speculation

[pand70]

I know many people that are pleased with all this loop thing because they think that helped the price not to collapse completely.
I don't think that it made any difference. I mean those who are going to panic they 'll panic sooner or later.

[joesmoe2012]

Can anyone remember any loop when the price went up really fast?

If this really is a security measure it only needs to be on the down-side since BTC withdrawals are instantaneous and irreversible while fiat withdrawals take at least a day (time for Mark to wake up and notice) and can sometimes be clawed back.  Blocking all BTC withdrawals from all accounts is an alternative, but that REALLY freaks people out, so I can understand why he'd be reluctant to do that.

I still think that "looping" instead of halting is completely bonkers.

While I agree with what you say, I should point out that mtgox BTC withdraws are not instant...

It takes days sometimes (longer than fiat transfers typically take).

[xybersurfer]

i looking at this looping on btccharts, this is some funny shit going on. can you imagine if this started happening on nasdaq or nyse, lmfao

yeah. holy sh*t!

this is the first time i see it (goxloop), obviously something isn't right. probably a software bug on MtGox's side. they should stop being lazy and fix it.

[xybersurfer]

It was already explained in another thread, it's a security measure (of rather dubious quality) they put in for when price is falling too fast. This is the kind of "solution" that makes software engineers around the world scream out in agony.

How does this solve the price falling too fast?

It is a bandaid that Mark implemented to avoid a repeat of the hack a few years ago when someone faked a market sell all the way to zero (cleaned out the order book).  It is not designed to prevent the price from "falling too fast."  

(I am not condoning this "security system" BTW, just trying to get the facts straight.)

stupid question but...
how does one fake a market sell?

it does not seem possible to me

[Painful Truth]

Relevant article:

http://techcrunch.com/2013/12/06/bitcoin-value-loses-its-mind-as-trading-lags-on-the-mt-gox-exchange/

[bit0x]

It's api lag, not more.