Just because an exchange is shutdown doesn't mean the currency is, have you ever see a dollar exchange center shutdown and dollar loses all it's value? no
well... in 1913 a dollar was worth 1/20th of an ounce of pure gold. Then they opened up this joint called the Federal Reserve. Now a dollar is worth less than the paper it's printed on...
However, bitcoin isn't a centrally controlled entity. If the coins are REALLY locked up, then the coin just got more valuable, as there will only ever be 21 million of 'em. Take away 800 grand from that total, and scarcity just got better. OTOH, if they were stolen, then they are still potentially in circulation. Sucks for Gox, damn their incompetent hides, and anyone who didn't read "mene, mene, tekel, uparshin" on their front page two years ago, but it's probably a net gain for Bitcoin. In either case. They have been a festering pustule on bitcoin for quite some time. I hear tales that they were once something great, but those days were past before I got involved a couple years back.
Me, I'm sittin' back and watching. Every time in the past when the price of bitcoin dropped like this, it came back to even greater heights. Now that Gox has declared bankruptcy, I consider the matter largely closed. Those who held coins in Gox got screwed. Sucks, but it is what it is. Some will possibly recover some damages in the disbursement of the court, but the community can now move on. I'm thinking the next peak will be 1500 USD, and it will be soon. Then it'll drop back to around a grand.
I ain't got no crystal ball, and that's just my opinion, but it is based on the observed pattern of bitcoin over the last approximately two years.
