Mt. Gox Gone? Apparent Theft Shakes Bitcoin World

mendax was one of many readers to write with news about the apparent shutdown of Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox, in the wake of massive theft. "The New York Times is reporting that Mt. Gox, the most prominent Bitcoin exchange, 'appeared to be on the verge of collapse late Monday, raising questions about the future of a volatile marketplace.' 'On Monday night, a number of leading Bitcoin companies jointly announced that Mt. Gox, the largest exchange for most of Bitcoin's existence, was planning to file for bankruptcy after months of technological problems and what appeared to have been a major theft. A document circulating widely in the Bitcoin world said the company had lost 744,000 Bitcoins in a theft that had gone unnoticed for years. That would be about 6 percent of the 12.4 million Bitcoins in circulation.' Maybe the U.S. Dollar isn't so bad after all." Forbes goes further, and says flatly that Mt. Gox has shut down; Wired calls it an implosion. Reader electron gunner links to the alleged leaked document which outlines the exchange's crisis strategy. Watch this story for updates, since there are bound to be new developments.

Comments

Acquisition?

[goldcd]

MtGox page seems to be blank currently - but look at source reveals:

"put announce for mtgox acq here"

Home Page

[randallman]

Their homepage just contains the comment in html:

        put announce for mtgox acq here

Re:Vive le Galt!

[geekoid]

they have gone from 1200 to 150. I have no idea where you are getting 800. Since the date on you post is 15 minutes ago, I think that instead of looking it up, you just pulled a wishful number out of your ass.

http://bitcoincharts.com/chart...