Mt. Gox finds 200,000 missing bitcoins in an old-format virtual wallet

Himanshu Arora

Posts: 902   +7
Staff

Mt. Gox on Thursday announced that the company has discovered 200,000 missing Bitcoins in an unused wallet. "We believed there were no Bitcoins left in old wallets, but found 199,999.99 Bitcoins on March 7," Mt. Gox Chief Executive Officer Mark Karpeles said in an online statement (PDF). The discovery brings the number of Bitcoins still missing to around 650,000 from about 850,000.

According to Karpeles, the found Bitcoins were located in an old-format online wallet which the company had earlier assumed no longer held any bitcoins. The discovery was made a week after the troubled Bitcoin exchange filed for bankruptcy, and it reported the discovery to attorneys the next day. Between March 14 and 15, the newfound bitcoins were moved to offline storage citing security reasons.

In the statement, Karpeles also said that the company was still investigating the causes and number of missing bitcoins, which essentially means that the total number of missing Bitcoins could change.

On February 7, the company suspended customer withdrawals, and a couple of weeks later, it went completely offline. On February 28 Mt. Gox announced that it was filing for bankruptcy, stating that it lost a total of 850000 Bitcoins (including 100,000 of its own) because of a vulnerability in the Bitcoin protocol known as "transaction malleability".

Just a few days back, Mt. Gox modified its website to allow former traders to log into their accounts and verify their balances.

Permalink to story.

 
Now the question is how will they divide up those coins among the people who are still missing their money.
 
And.... to the critics who said

"Regulations are bad for capitalism"
"It is our money, we can do whatever we want" (until it is stolen and we freak)
"We rather trust our money with 3rd party (who literally operates in a garage) than a financial institution with proper insurance or cash reserves"

Well?
 
And.... to the critics who said

"Regulations are bad for capitalism"
"It is our money, we can do whatever we want" (until it is stolen and we freak)
"We rather trust our money with 3rd party (who literally operates in a garage) than a financial institution with proper insurance or cash reserves"

Well?

Ye because printing infinate money = financially secure..... Lets remember what happens when we print money it gets its value slashed but hey if I could print money I would!

Also they just took 200k bitcoins from the 850k stash they have I mean come on its blatantly obvious these guys are pulling a fast one you have to be blind to not see it!!!!!!
 
And.... to the critics who said

"Regulations are bad for capitalism"
"It is our money, we can do whatever we want" (until it is stolen and we freak)
"We rather trust our money with 3rd party (who literally operates in a garage) than a financial institution with proper insurance or cash reserves"

Well?

You mean like how the banks in the USA went bankrupt and lost millions of customers money -That kind of security?
Mt. Gox made a mistake or whatever but thats one institution, if it was a general protocol/currency issue then WAY more companies would have seen bitcoin theft.

You are trying to accuse the entire currency because of a single company's mistakes, that is what is commonly known as ignorance.
A single unified world wide currency DOES make sense and given a few years to mature will be a good thing for sure.
 
You mean like how the banks in the USA went bankrupt and lost millions of customers money -That kind of security?
Mt. Gox made a mistake or whatever but thats one institution, if it was a general protocol/currency issue then WAY more companies would have seen bitcoin theft.

You are trying to accuse the entire currency because of a single company's mistakes, that is what is commonly known as ignorance.
A single unified world wide currency DOES make sense and given a few years to mature will be a good thing for sure.

Or how about when the banks needed trillions to be bailed out and then when they did get bailed out they didnt have to pay it back and the big managers of those banks got 8-9 figure wages with no rules or any regulations to prevent it again.
 
Have these Mt Gox chumps thought of asking for help from the the search & rescue parties that are still searching for flight MH 370? Maybe the bitcoins were onboard... At least that's what they should try fob their customers off with because their other lame excuses haven't worked thus far.
They're a shady lot.
 
Have these Mt Gox Chumps thought of asking for help from the the search & rescue parties that are still searching for flight MH 370? Maybe the bitcoins were onboard... At least that's what they should tell their customers, they've tried every other excuse in the book to no avail.
They're a shady lot.

850k bitcoins suddenly go missing and they somehow find 200k bitcoins in a top secret wallet then somehow find enough money to fund a call center even tho supposedly being " Bankrupt"
 
*Dumb guy voice* "Yeah sorry guys, we forgot to check some wallets and 1/5 of your 'stolen' money was in there but don't worry we aren't giving it back yet..."
 
*Dumb guy voice* "Yeah sorry guys, we forgot to check some wallets and 1/5 of your 'stolen' money was in there but don't worry we aren't giving it back yet..."

You forgot the last part "Were not giving it back yet as we need to get our call center and we need to fund our world trip"
 
You mean like how the banks in the USA went bankrupt and lost millions of customers money -That kind of security?
Mt. Gox made a mistake or whatever but thats one institution, if it was a general protocol/currency issue then WAY more companies would have seen bitcoin theft.

You are trying to accuse the entire currency because of a single company's mistakes, that is what is commonly known as ignorance.
A single unified world wide currency DOES make sense and given a few years to mature will be a good thing for sure.

When did the banks go bankrupt and lose millions of dollars of customers' money? Last I checked, not a single deposited dollar was lost.
 
And.... to the critics who said

"Regulations are bad for capitalism"
"It is our money, we can do whatever we want" (until it is stolen and we freak)
"We rather trust our money with 3rd party (who literally operates in a garage) than a financial institution with proper insurance or cash reserves"

Well?

You mean like how the banks in the USA went bankrupt and lost millions of customers money -That kind of security?
Mt. Gox made a mistake or whatever but thats one institution, if it was a general protocol/currency issue then WAY more companies would have seen bitcoin theft.

You are trying to accuse the entire currency because of a single company's mistakes, that is what is commonly known as ignorance.
A single unified world wide currency DOES make sense and given a few years to mature will be a good thing for sure.

Try read my comment again -- Did I accuse bitcoin? Bitcoin is very new. Many US gov agencies are actually praising the innovations of bitcoins. I was specifically commenting on people who are anti-regulations.

Also, did I approve of the current banking system and the current regulations? More regulations are not good regulations. Only good regulations are good regulations.

Lastly, one currency for the whole world is good and makes sense? Talking about theoretical. Look at EU. They were contemplating kicking Greece and Italy out so that Euro's value isn't severely damaged by one or two fiscally irresponsible countries. Even if one currency turns out to be good for the whole world (which I doubt), it will not happen because the current way of transacting is too profitable for too many powerful rich people.

Now, please stop accusing me.
 
When did the banks go bankrupt and lose millions of dollars of customers' money? Last I checked, not a single deposited dollar was lost.
Really, it's called, "F.D.I.C", (Federal Deposit Insurance Company). So, the average depositor won't lose a dime when a bank goes belly up, or gets robbed down to its last penny.

Here's some reading on that: http://www.fdic.gov/

The Federal Reserve, (I believe), was created in response to the great depression, to mitigate the "run on the banks" effect.

And in reality, moving away from precious metals standard in currency, also mitigates a run on the banks, since you can't panic, and demand gold or silver for paper money during financial trouble periods..

People are talking trash about the Federal Reserve, (IMHO), in order to drive people to "bitcoin", which I believe is just as big, if not bigger, scam.
 
When did the banks go bankrupt and lose millions of dollars of customers' money? Last I checked, not a single deposited dollar was lost.

It wasnt lost because THE GOVERNMENT BAILED THEM OUT... seriously the intelligence of some people is amazing at times.

Really, it's called, "F.D.I.C", (Federal Deposit Insurance Company). So, the average depositor won't lose a dime when a bank goes belly up, or gets robbed down to its last penny.

Here's some reading on that: http://www.fdic.gov/

The Federal Reserve, (I believe), was created in response to the great depression, to mitigate the "run on the banks" effect.

And in reality, moving away from precious metals standard in currency, also mitigates a run on the banks, since you can't panic, and demand gold or silver for paper money during financial trouble periods..

People are talking trash about the Federal Reserve, (IMHO), in order to drive people to "bitcoin", which I believe is just as big, if not bigger, scam.

If its a scam how come bitcoins is limited unlike real life money where if you dont have enough just print some more just like the government....
 
...[ ]....If its a scam how come bitcoins is limited unlike real life money where if you dont have enough just print some more just like the government....
Well, if you make something rare, people will only want it more. Human nature, I suppose.

Wow, there's only so many bitcoins! I better get mine before they're all gone. (Like that).

And we all know, when something is, "collectable", its value escalates rapidly.
 
Well, if you make something rare, people will only want it more. Human nature, I suppose.

Wow, there's only so many bitcoins! I better get mine before they're all gone. (Like that).

And we all know, when something is, "collectable", its value escalates rapidly.

Exactly like gold but even if its not rare like paper money people still want more xD
 
"850k bitcoins suddenly go missing and they somehow find 200k bitcoins in a top secret wallet then somehow find enough money to fund a call center even tho supposedly being " Bankrupt"
how many times does this have to be mentioned. Bankruptcy does not mean you have zero money, it is a state you apply for and enter into because you cannot financially meet your obligations. You may have lots of money, but the bankruptcy trustee will only let you keep a small amount and take the rest and try to use it to meet your obligations.
 
"850k bitcoins suddenly go missing and they somehow find 200k bitcoins in a top secret wallet then somehow find enough money to fund a call center even tho supposedly being " Bankrupt"
how many times does this have to be mentioned. Bankruptcy does not mean you have zero money, it is a state you apply for and enter into because you cannot financially meet your obligations. You may have lots of money, but the bankruptcy trustee will only let you keep a small amount and take the rest and try to use it to meet your obligations.

Still if you file for bankruptcy you should NOT be able to spend a penny on useless things like a call center just for your staff to simply tell them "We are working on it" ....
 
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