Re:Mt. Gox Resigns Bitcoin Foundation Board Seat
by StavrosK on Monday February 24, 2014 @04:37AM
(#7289898)
I don't understand how that works. I had $1000 in my account, say, and it was worth 1 BTC. Now it's worth 10. Isn't that much more expensive for Gox to return?
Re:Mt. Gox Resigns Bitcoin Foundation Board Seat
by saalweachter on Monday February 24, 2014 @07:09AM
(#7290348)
You're trading coins with someone who has coins in MtGox and can't currently withdraw them.
Alex has 10 GoxBTC and trades them to Bob for 1 BTC. If MtGox recovers, they give Bob 10 BTC and Alex 0. Their obligation remains unchanged.
Re:Mt. Gox Resigns Bitcoin Foundation Board Seat
by cbhl on Monday February 24, 2014 @05:29AM
(#7290052)
The issue at hand is that Gox has allegedly lost BTC due to double-payouts as a result of the malleable transaction. So if the price of BTC on Gox is super low, Gox could decide that it's better to change the ledger such that instead of 10 BTC a person has $1000, instead of having to buy 10 BTC at the market price (~$10 000) and use that to reimburse the person.
(Granted, considering how much trouble they were having before with USD being frozen, I can't imagine that this is a feasible move for Gox at the moment.)
Re:Mt. Gox Resigns Bitcoin Foundation Board Seat
by StavrosK on Monday February 24, 2014 @07:51AM
(#7290479)
Right, but still, they wouldn't gain much from people who had money in the system...
Re:Mt. Gox Resigns Bitcoin Foundation Board Seat
by shawabawa3 on Monday February 24, 2014 @05:27AM
(#7290047)
You aren't buying directly from Gox, it's an exchange. You can buy 10x more bitcoins with your money, but you're buying from people who have lost confidence in the exchange and believe they are more likely to get their USD out than their bitcoins.
MtGox should be full reserve, that is, they should be holding 100% of all user's bitcoins and fiat deposits, only skimming off the exchange fees.
Re:Mt. Gox Resigns Bitcoin Foundation Board Seat
by lmm on Monday February 24, 2014 @05:38AM
(#7290079)
Sure, but for people who had 100BTC in their Gox account that was worth $100000 and is now worth $10000 that's much cheaper for Gox to return. If the balances in Gox accounts in BTC are higher than the balances in $, and/or most of Gox's own assets are in $, then it's in their interests for the BTC price to be lower.
There is some fear that funds may have been lost on a large scale, due to this bug, and that Mt Gox simply won't be able to make good on their accounts. Some have suggested that Gox is buying BTC at the current deflated price to try to cover the gap. All of this is hearsay, and I don't know how much of it I would believe. It's difficult to take the Gox folks at their word, however, given their reticence about providing details of what they're up to, and the slowness of a return to normalcy.