Joint Statement Regarding Mt. Gox

[btcx]

For immediate distribution: February 24th, 2014 -- 7:00 PM PST
 
The purpose of this document is to summarize a joint statement to the Bitcoin community regarding Mt.Gox.
 
This tragic violation of the trust of users of Mt.Gox was the result of one company’s abhorrent actions and does not reflect the resilience or value of bitcoin and the digital currency industry. There are hundreds of trustworthy and responsible companies involved in bitcoin. These companies will continue to build the future of money by making bitcoin more secure and easy to use for consumers and merchants. As with any new industry, there are certain bad actors that need to be weeded out, and that is what we are seeing today.
 
We are confident, however, that strong Bitcoin companies, led by highly competent teams and backed by credible investors, will continue to thrive, and to fulfill the promise that bitcoin offers as the future of payment in the Internet age.
 
In order to re-establish the trust squandered by the failings of Mt. Gox, responsible bitcoin exchanges are working together and are committed to the future of bitcoin and the security of all customer funds. As part of the effort to re-assure customers, the following exchanges will be coordinating efforts over the coming days to publicly reassure customers and the general public that all funds continue to be held in a safe and secure manner: Coinbase, Kraken, BitStamp, Circle, and BTC China.
 
We strongly believe in transparent, thoughtful, and comprehensive consumer protection measures. We pledge to lead the way.
 
Bitcoin operators, whether they be exchanges, wallet services or payment providers, play a critical custodial role over the bitcoin they hold as assets for their customers. Acting as a custodian should require a high-bar, including appropriate security safeguards that are independently audited and tested on a regular basis, adequate balance sheets and reserves as commercial entities, transparent and accountable customer disclosures, and clear policies to not use customer assets for proprietary trading or for margin loans in leveraged trading. It does not appear to any of us that MtGox followed any these essential requirements as a financial services provider.
 
The following industry leaders stand by this statement:
 
Fred Ehrsam — Co-founder of Coinbase
Jesse Powell — CEO of Kraken
Nejc Kodrič — CEO of Bitstamp.net
Bobby Lee — CEO of BTC China
Nicolas Cary — CEO of Blockchain.info
Jeremy Allaire — CEO of Circle

[austins]

The question is will this Statement help us get our btcs back ?

[the joint]

This is a rather bold statement.  Thanks for making it.   I hope you uphold it, though I'd like some clarity:

1) Is this essentially just a few companies advertising both Bitcoin and themselves, or is this some vague announcement of a group that will actively work to implement some kind of inter-exchange checks-and-balances system?  If, for example, you know that any of the exchanges in the group has some sub-par security practice or a vulnerability, what would be the consequence(s)?

2) ...And if one of you goes and f***s it up?

3) Is there any financial motivation behind this joint statement, e.g. is this Gox mess threatening business for any of the exchanges?  The statement is specifically accusatory, though it's one that's hard to argue with.

Thanks

Edit:  This, too, has been a Joint statement.

[TrailingComet]

It's good that there has been a joint statement. Should help settle things down as the inevitable happens with Gox.

Less clear how actionable any joint actions by a group of profit-driven companies will be