Earlier quoted context omitted.
Please give me some then.
Open your wallet file with a text editor and type in some gibberish and pretend I gave you some. That's probably more worth than bitcoins.
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Mt. Gox Files for Bankruptcy Protection
101–110 of 305 posts
Re: Mt. Gox Files for Bankruptcy Protection
#102Earlier quoted context omitted.
> the writing was on the wall for a long time I wish I had hindsight like you. It was only up until these few months that Bitstamp became of any competition to MtGox. Its liquidity sucked, which was why many early adopters like me stayed.
>> hindsight I'm only making this comment because you used the term "hindsight". Let me first start off by saying I feel very, very sorry for all the people who lost funds in MtGox. It'll take awhile before you get over the pain of losing a life-changing amount of money. But let's be very clear about this; hindsight wasn't needed here. The warning signs that MtGox was a house of cards became visible a long time ago.…
The signs were there, we all knew that. It's just that hindsight makes you believe the signs meant 100% probability Gox will go down. But back then with the limited information everyone had, that was definitely not the case. At some point Gox's bitcoin price had a 20% premium over the rest of the exchanges. So, if he wanted to get out of Gox immediately, he'd have to buy BTC, withdraw and sell at another exchange. Which means 20% loss or $100K. At that point he'd have ask himself if the probability of Gox being completely insolvent is really that great to be worth taking such a hit. And I don't think it was - the loss of 700K BTC came as a surprise even to the biggest Gox critics.
Re: Mt. Gox Files for Bankruptcy Protection
#103Re: Mt. Gox Files for Bankruptcy Protection
#104Hilarious. Can't wait to hear from the choir of libertarian crypto-currency-zealots, who will sing the praises of the Ponzi scheme that is Bitcoin. On a serious note: who benefits?
Yes, a failure of a single financial institution proves the currency is a completely failure. I mean, it's not like the USD and EUR markets had any institutions that failed or needed bailouts - well, except for Northern Rock, IndyMac, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Washington Mutual, Wachovia, Citigroup, and AIG.
Re: Mt. Gox Files for Bankruptcy Protection
#105> The company's lawyer also said at a news conference at the Tokyo District Court that Mt. Gox had outstanding debt of about ¥6.5 billion ($63.6 million) with assets worth ¥3.84 billion. This implies a debt ratio of 170%. Assume: (1) no outside debt (only customer deposits) and (2) only 100% liquid assets (only currency). Even in that case, a depositor would recover no more than 59 cents to the dollar (the maximum re…
They're also staring down the barrel of last year's taxes, which are due in two weeks. (For filing - they might get an extra month to pay them.) They're almost certainly going to miss that deadline and the National Tax Agency is going to make some guesses as to their situation. It would not be out of character for the NTA to say "You had $50 million in incoming wires? In the absence of a timely return accompanied by…
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Re: Mt. Gox Files for Bankruptcy Protection
#106Can anyone explain to someone who didnt follow whole story from the beginning what exactly happened to Mtgox that caused them to lose all this money?
No, because nobody knows for sure. The most common theories are stupidity, fraud, and theft (or some combination thereof).
Re: Mt. Gox Files for Bankruptcy Protection
#107It's easy to be angry at them and/or see how stupid they were about accounting, security, etc. But I guess on the other hand we do have to realize they are victims of massive theft, as far as we know this massive loss was not due to their own profiteering or internal theft, it was an organized outside force targeting them. It occurs to me it is like blaming someone for getting mugged, although they were stupid enough…
You are running an antique accessory business. You have a van to carry all the valuable stuff you borrow from people to sell in their name. Your van starts to leak oil. You figure out how to fix it yourself. Check engine light of the van is still blinking though, but you happened to put a post-it in your dashboard blocking it. By the way, you also never have it serviced. You keep driving for years while the situation…
Indeed. However, the whole point of crypto-currencies is decentralization: you give up both (some of) the constraints and (most of) the protection that goes with government-backed currencies. Choosing who you trust then becomes your own problem, your fully personal responsibility.
So yes, MtGox is at least criminally negligent, and maybe simply criminal. But the (largely libertarian) crowds who chose to trust them are fully responsible for their own poor assessment of MtGox' trustworthiness. That's the flip-side of choosing deregulation.
Re: Mt. Gox Files for Bankruptcy Protection
#108Earlier quoted context omitted.
I believe your understanding if the situation is flawed, if you are a US citizen. The $3000 per year applies to capital losses. You did not suffer a capital loss. You suffered a loss due to bank insolvency. If you realized your gains in 2013, you actually owe taxes on $500,000 for your 2013 taxes, which is roughly $250k. I believe your losses due to bank insolvency will apply to your income for 2014. But you may be o…
I am not clear with taxes, but I will go and consult with a CPA. Fortunately I did not keep everything in MtGox. If it turns out that I do owe $250k in taxes, I won't be in trouble. Thanks.
> If it turns out that I do owe $250k in taxes, I won't be in trouble.
It sounds like you have little to complain about really. it sucks you lost half a million dollars, but if you're not upset about the possibility of losing a quarter more I imagine you're probably set for life as it is.
Re: Mt. Gox Files for Bankruptcy Protection
#109Earlier quoted context omitted.
Losses can only be taken on your initial investment amount if you have Bitcoins in MtGox. This means that if you invested $10k a year back, and your Bitcoins are now worth $1000k, you can only take $10k in losses. Luckily I have realized my gains which means I can deduct $3k every year in losses with infinite rollover.
I believe your understanding if the situation is flawed, if you are a US citizen. The $3000 per year applies to capital losses. You did not suffer a capital loss. You suffered a loss due to bank insolvency. If you realized your gains in 2013, you actually owe taxes on $500,000 for your 2013 taxes, which is roughly $250k. I believe your losses due to bank insolvency will apply to your income for 2014. But you may be o…
Lets see if I understand this (I am not in the US) - the bitcoins count as an asset, you sell these bitcoins for dollars at MtGox and at this point the tax is due regardless of whether you actually get the dollars out of MtGox?
So any time between you selling bitcoins and actually getting the cleared funds out of an exchange leaves you with the risk of a fairly serious tax liability if the exchange can't actually give you the kind of currency you can pay tax bills with...
[I've had very close calls with seemingly small matters introducing potentially horrific tax liabilities so I am a bit oversensitive to these things!]
Re: Mt. Gox Files for Bankruptcy Protection
#110To all the HN members who lost a lot of money in this closing, remember the community is here for you. Don't do anything too rash and if you need someone to talk to, myself and most other people would be happy to lend an ear.
http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/
This should be at the top