

Ask HN: Why is MtGox BTC so much cheaper? - zaroth

You can currently buy MtGox BTC for a huge discount versus non-Gox BTC.<p>If Gox has the BTC, it would be like printing money to buy back their liability for 30 cents on the dollar, so you would assume if Gox actually had the BTC they would be a buyer all the way up to 99 cents on the dollar.<p>So basically, how is this not a huge arbitrage opportunity for Gox itself? 
It&#x27;s surprising to see the price of MtGox bitcoin diverge so entirely.<p>It seems like the only two possible explanations are either Gox is stupid or Gox doesn&#x27;t have the coins.
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blueskin_
Because it can't be withdrawn and Mt Gox will probably disappear soon, taking
people's coins with it.

People buying it are buying the coins at way below market rate, essentially
gambling that Mt Gox will eventually allow withdrawal (presumably they have
other bitcoin investments too), while people selling are sensibly trying to
get what money they can out before the company folds.

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zaroth
Today MtGox take 10 Bitcoins from their cold wallet, and use it to SUBTRACT 33
BTC balance from their ledger.

That's a REALLY huge incentive to click a button and start doing it, which if
that was happening, would drive up the price until the market hits
equilibrium.

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matznerd
There is no way to get your money out, plus there are a number of other issues
with them. Gox is dead. Read up on reddit.com/r/bitcoin or bitcointalk.org

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laichzeit0
Have they re-enabled BTC withdrawals again? It might be that it's too risky to
use them.

