[ANN] Mt.Gox overview: January 2012 / Transparency

[Mt.Gox Support]

Dear Mt.Gox Users,

It’s no secret that since Tibanne took over Mt.Gox in March 2011 we’ve had a bumpy road, both in terms of growth and security.  The violation of our exchange that took place in June has left an ominous cloud hanging over us and in part, Bitcion and the community.  It has taken us several months to reestablish the level of trust we have now, and we feel as the leading Bitcoin Exchange it is our place to continue to set the model of trust for companies whose business revolves around Bitcoin.

Today we will be putting up a deck, aptly called “Transparency” where you will find basic information about Mt.Gox including operation cost, basic security details, revenue, turnover and so on...

A update to this document will be done every three months or so and we plan to provide as much information as possible without breaching our companies security or competitive advantage. Also, please note that this iteration is a first attempt and we plan to refine subsequent attempts in an effort to be continually more accurate and clear. Your feedback on this deck is of course welcome!

Also, we plan to have this document verified by third party auditors for future releases, however we want to set a realistic expectation this may not happen by the next quarter.

We sincerely hope that our effort here will be mirrored by other exchanges, Bitcoin related business, and that we have the communities backing on this “move”.

Transparently,

The Mt.Gox Team.

Please follow this link to access to our presentation and/or download the “Transparency” PDF file Mt.Gox overview: January 2012

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[Revalin]

Commendable.  I'm glad to see you disclose deposits and withdrawals.  I've been interested in this data for some time to help evaluate the Bitcoin economy as a whole.

From a security standpoint I would be interested in more information on how, technologically and operationally, you are handling security.  The big one (90% of BTC in cold storage) is there, though, and appreciated.

[teflone]

How about you guys fix mtgox live, so that more than a bus load of people can use it at the same time and does not crash at the "perfect" time...?

[casascius]

+1000 for publishing this information.

In particular, the 90-98% cold storage claim is very helpful to know, and to my knowledge is the first time this has been published.  (I say "claim" not derisively, but only to acknowledge that it's unverified.)

[rjk]

Extremely interesting info. 80 tickets per week? Wow!

[Mt.Gox Support]

How about you guys fix mtgox live, so that more than a bus load of people can use it at the same time and does not crash at the "perfect" time...?

We are planning to update MtGox Live soon, don't worry.

[Mt.Gox Support]

From a security standpoint I would be interested in more information on how, technologically and operationally, you are handling security.  The big one (90% of BTC in cold storage) is there, though, and appreciated.

We have planed for this but don't expect an answer by tomorrow ;-). This part is scheduled to be audited for a better accuracy and to make sure that we are true to our words.

[GideonGono]

This is really good. Kudos for taking the lead.

EDIT

I just read it and it seems pretty impressive. Especially customer support and the server setup. Good Job!

[evoorhees]

+1

Thanks Gox

[David M]

Nicely done.

One nit pic.

You quoted the monthly Data Centre cost in USD at $5K on page 8.
In Monthly Operating costs you quote in Yen at 5,000,000 on page 16.

Is the Data Centre cost included in the Monthly Operating costs?
I would have thought so, but the currency switch threw me.

[Mt.Gox Support]

Nicely done.

One nit pic.

You quoted the monthly Data Centre cost in USD at $5K on page 8.
In Monthly Operating costs you quote in Yen at 5,000,000 on page 16.

Is the Data Centre cost included in the Monthly Operating costs?
I would have thought so, but the currency switch threw me.

Yes you are correct, the monthly $5K of our servers cost is indeed included in the ¥5M Yen.

[Revalin]

BTC is conspicuously missing from the deposits and withdrawal stats. Can you add it?

[MagicalTux]

BTC is conspicuously missing from the deposits and withdrawal stats. Can you add it?

Good call.

Sorry, I guess we forgot some info while putting this document together.

We'll include this information for the next time. Note also that unlike bank operations, bitcoins are handled in realtime and there are many more operations in one month. Also, since people may send bitcoins to themselves, as many times as they want, this data may not be really useful.

[mahingupta]

+1 Gox

[D.H.]

Good stuff Mt.Gox, I think that you're doing a great job reestablishing the trust. Would be interesting to know some more details about the company. For example, how many employees are there?

[BitcoinBug]

+1
MtGox seems more professional than I thought.

P.S.: Still, I wish other exchanges would get more love, especially cryptoxchange. Competition is good!

[N12]

Did you forget a 0 at page 14 for USD? 383,00 (as in 383 USD) is weird, because it seems too low and I think it is used as a seperator?

Do you intend to manipulate a rally with faulty information?

[MagicalTux]

Did you forget a 0 at page 14 for USD? 383,00 (as in 383 USD) is weird, because it seems too low and I think it is used as a seperator?

Do you intend to manipulate a rally with faulty information?

Oops, we'll fix this right now, thanks for the report.

[Mt.Gox Support]

Did you forget a 0 at page 14 for USD? 383,00 (as in 383 USD) is weird, because it seems too low and I think it is used as a seperator?

Do you intend to manipulate a rally with faulty information?

Sorry this is entirely my fault! Anyway this has been fixed.

Cheers

[Seal]

Very, very impressed. +1 to Gox.

Other brokers, take note.