And that is the point. Bitcoin as an open system means we are ALL the regulators. Issue is we cant see their FIAT.

How are we regulators? How can we demand anything from any enxchange? How can we punish them if they violate the rules, or our trust?

If Mt Gox has a single deposit wallet for example, we could easily audit how many coins it has.

We couldn't enforce rules, but if some people decided to set up a sort of "best practices" website saying it's "SAFE compliant or something (Sure Against Forged Equalities), in which case beginners guide would be "ALWAYS GO FOR SAFE COMPLIANT EXCHANGES!"

We couldn't punish them but it would allow some sort of feeling of safety(if minimal).

I think that is the whole issue with this.

They are beholden to no one and there is no way to punish them if they violate the rules. (rules in the BTC world?! blasphemy!)

If we can regulate them, so can the government. AFAIU Bitcoin is designed to prevent exactly that, at least in general.

Fully resolving their books would require knowing identities of those entitled to receive Bitcoin from an exchange, as only one example, as otherwise an exchange could simply transfer the right amount to an account under their control and use those Silk Road-style money laundering schemes to transfer it to some wallet they actually care about.

To make sure the outlays went to the customers it's required to know which Bitcoin wallets belong to said customers. Are you going to sign up for an exchange that maps wallet IDs to customer identities for public transparency purposes?

> If we can regulate them, so can the government.

Even if we can't, the government still can if it really wants to. They can still demand access to the software, the wallets, and they can fine or imprison people.