[FOR SALE (JOKE/POINT)]: Casascius MICKEY MOUSE DOLLARS

[cloon]

This thread should be called: FEAR SPREADING

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[Bitcoin Oz]

This thread should be called: FEAR SPREADING

Its easy to calm these fears by proving they own all the btc on the books. Should be easy to prove.

I hope to avoid them untill it happens.

[S3052]

They still need an audit to be taken seriously.  Independent as Mark may be, I doubt he knows better than to, for example, challenge the laws of physics and jump off a building naked to defy gravity.  I am sure the value of an audit is not lost on him... that is, unless it would report bad news.

I agree to the need of an audit for MtGox.

It is a risk for them not to do it. Even if it might take a while, a competitor exchange will come up that does not delay withdrawals and then they will see their market share go down. Look at Nokia and Ericsson. They were the leaders in the mobile business and are now nowhere any more as they have missed the train.

This is also a call for BETTER and VERIFIED and TRUSTWORTHY BITCOIN EXCHANGES.  If you do it right, you can get a major share in this growing market.

[slothbag]

I'm going to play devils advocate here for a minute..

I think people too quickly forget what Mtgox has done for Bitcoin, they have lead the way in my opinion in running a fair and honest platform enabling significant numbers of fiat currencies to flow in and out of our economy.  Not to mention operating probably the most profitable bitcoin business therefore catching the attention of other professional entrepreneurs.

Sure they had a few hacks early on, but they stepped up their security as you would expect and have been pretty rock solid security wise since then.  At their own expense they sent out Yubi-keys for free to all customers to enable better security.

They have invested significant time/money into development of other bitcoin services outside of fiat exchange with their shopping cart and money payment services..  I guess they could easily put up the commission on trades to increase profits but are instead investing in a better bitcoin economy even with minimal prospect for profits short term.

They always answer forum posts professionally without engaging in the immature antics that are usually associated with this forum.

From what I can see the majority of issues people are having and complaining about is the withrawing of fiat currencies in particular through Dwolla.. In my time using Bitcoin the one common problem with this whole thing is dealing with fiat currencies is a pain in the arse!  With issues like massive incoming fraud, AML issues, licensing, regulations, dealing with banks, governments, courts, bureaucracy, chargebacks, identification its no wonder there are so many issues and its these reasons why I love Bitcoin and want to do away with fiat altogether.  I have to give credit to Mtgox for providing the level of service they have for so long without blowing their brains out in frustration.

From my perspective the Mtgox USD or "mickey mouse dollars" has become the sudo standard for USD because it doesn't have all the issues I just mentioned in the paragraph above.. when you want to transfer Mtgox USD around or trade it, it is fast, easy and no bullshit.. if only real banks were that simple.

With all the FUD being spread around I was starting to get worried myself, so withdrew some bitcoin from Mtgox.. look at that.. received instantly, no fees, no delays, no problem..

Of course I could be proven wrong in a week/month if it all goes belly up, then i'll look like a douche, and an audit from them would probably help people to regain some confidence..  but just because one or two people demand an audit doesn't mean we need to rally the mob with pitchforks and torches!

[TTBit]

Gox is waiting for the exchange to be set up so they can buy their liabilities back at 50c on the dollar.

[DeathAndTaxes]

With all the FUD being spread around I was starting to get worried myself, so withdrew some bitcoin from Mtgox.. look at that.. received instantly, no fees, no delays, no problem..

So to disprove the FUD about USD you moved some Bitcoins?
Try moving from Gox dollars via Dwolla or send a $25K wire to yourself from your Gox account and then tell me how problem, and delay free it was.

Still the 37% who think it is worth "nothing" are idiots or trolling.  Tell you what I will buy every Gox dollar someone believes is worth nothing for an amazing $0.50 on the dollar.  If you believe it is worth $0.01 or less you just made 50x return on your money.  I imagine I won't get any takers.  The liquidity and transparency issues cause Gox dollars to be devalued slightly but it isn't anything more than maybe a nickle on the dollar.

[finway]

withdrew some bitcoin from Mtgox.. look at that.. received instantly, no fees, no delays, no problem..

Me2.

[bulanula]

subbing for the popcorn

MtGox hacked No way !

[rjk]

Because of the Dwolla hassles, I would argue that GoxUSD is currently worth about 90 to 95 cents on the dollar. Without the big D and some annoying verification, the hoop jumping needed for a simple withdrawal is too costly except for large amounts.

[istar]

Being the biggest Bitcoin exchange, I dont think they would have any trouble getting investors on board. Such investors would take the blow and get a good deal. I have seen this before. Thus I´m not worried.

[Coinoisseur]

http://news.yahoo.com/back-oblivion-russian-fraudster-pushes-scam-062530584.html

The MMM guy is now in hiding apparently, maybe he missed a bribe payment?

[ludo0777]

Wut? There is no option for $69? You disappoint me.

[BoardGameCoin]

Based on market rates, I'd say a MtGox USD is ~0.95 a real USD. However, based on the amount of BitInstant business and the slowness of getting money into an exchange, there are definitely cases where a dollar on an exchange is worth $1.05 dollars not on an exchange.

I agree that Gox' actions seem to indicate a liquidity crisis. This crisis would correlate with either losses they are gradually recouping or possibly underlying holding investments that went south. A possible approach to figuring this out is to aggregate a best-guess estimate of the rate of flow of real USD out of MtGox as compared to the inflow of $ into MtGox and the percentage of USD Gox gets from the volume traded. BitInstant guys COULD provide useful data on that, but they may have an agreement with Gox that doesn't allow them to provide that data.

-bgc

[casascius]

Based on market rates, I'd say a MtGox USD is ~0.95 a real USD.

The market rate of a MyBitcoin BTC was 1.00 BTC the moment before MyBitcoin started delaying withdrawals, meanwhile its actual value was no greater than 0.49 BTC.  The correction that brought the market and actual values in sync with one another was swift and unforgiving.

If you think about it though, just like a fractional reserve bank, MyBitcoin with only 49% capitalization could have continued to operate up until the point that >51% of the depositors demanded their money simultaneously, which might have been never.  Meanwhile, they could have introduced advertising and premium features as a revenue source, or sold themselves to some larger company that included making up the shortfall as part of the deal.  Question to ponder: if they did that instead of closing up shop, despite "losing" 51% of everyone's money, would we no longer consider MyBitcoin to have been a scam?  Would Bitcoin Magazine have listed MyBitcoin in the successes column, instead of the failures?

[bulanula]

Based on market rates, I'd say a MtGox USD is ~0.95 a real USD.

The market rate of a MyBitcoin BTC was 1.00 BTC the moment before MyBitcoin started delaying withdrawals, meanwhile its actual value was no greater than 0.49 BTC.  The correction that brought the market and actual values in sync with one another was swift and unforgiving.

If you think about it though, just like a fractional reserve bank, MyBitcoin with only 49% capitalization could have continued to operate up until the point that >51% of the depositors demanded their money simultaneously, which could have been virtually never.  Meanwhile, they could have introduced advertising and premium features as a revenue source.  Question to ponder: if they did that instead of closing up shop, would we no longer consider MyBitcoin a scam?  Would Bitcoin Magazine have listed MyBitcoin in the successes column, instead of the failures?

Very true mate ! They should have pretended nothing happened and just use some of the BTC to invest in pirate to get 100% back again !

[BoardGameCoin]

Incidentally Mike, I think there's a lot of interest in having a fully audited exchange. I'm guessing you probably don't have the  time to set one up, but if you do I bet it would be useful. Alternatively, you could start lobbying with one of the two exchanges I'm switching to: bitfloor or campbx, to integrate auditing into their process earlier.

[casascius]

Incidentally Mike, I think there's a lot of interest in having a fully audited exchange. I'm guessing you probably don't have the  time to set one up, but if you do I bet it would be useful. Alternatively, you could start lobbying with one of the two exchanges I'm switching to: bitfloor or campbx, to integrate auditing into their process earlier.

Auditing is so freaking easy, the hardest part is deciding it's really worth the cost and deciding to do it.  The easy part is to just call up an auditor and sign an agreement.  I know a couple who are itching not only to provide the audit, but to provide all the advice and resources one needs to put themselves in a position to pass it with flying colors.

My payroll company engages A-lign CPA out of Tampa, FL for an annual audit and we have nothing but good to say and their rates are very reasonable.  The doors it opens for us makes their audit worth every penny.  I feel no pain or remorse writing their check. http://www.aligncpa.com/