Mt. Gox died, yet Bitcoin didn't.

Posted by sillysaurus3 on Wednesday March 12, 2014 @05:12PM
from the self-post dept.

It occurred to me just now that Mt. Gox would have probably been classified by a government as "too big to fail" and been issued a bailout. Yet Mt. Gox was given no bailout, and they fell, along with everyone's money.

And... nothing really happened. Bitcoin still exists, the price didn't fluctuate too much, and life goes on.

It makes me wonder what would've happened if the banks weren't issued any bailouts. Would the world economy have been in serious trouble? Was it a good thing that the banks were bailed out? Or has it just delayed an inevitable "collapse day" that will occur at some point? Are collapses taken too seriously in general? Or was Mt. Gox, as large as it was, still incredibly small, and hence didn't matter that much?

( 3 comments | 5 points | on HN )

Re:Mt. Gox died, yet Bitcoin didn't. by dirktheman on Wednesday March 12, 2014 @05:43PM (#7388601)

The total loss with Mt. Gox was, what, 450 million, right? Freddie Mac bailout was 72 billion, and that was just one of the banks that got bailed out. Whether it was a goodmthing for the banks tomget bailed out I guess we'll never know for sure!

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Mt. Gox died, yet Bitcoin didn't. by randomracker on Wednesday March 12, 2014 @10:06PM (#7389700)

I think some of the fear of crashes comes from the Great Depression. The magnitude and unpleasantness of that makes a great deal of fear seem quite a rational response.

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Re:Mt. Gox died, yet Bitcoin didn't. by meerita on Wednesday March 12, 2014 @07:46PM (#7389196)

Several banks fail each year, yet the currencies doesn't crash. The only thing that crashed its middlemen.

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