# Last edited on 2014-05-15 23:22:15 by stolfilocal
# NOT POSTED

[quote author=sobriket link=topic=587295.msg6749666#msg6749666 date=1400180115]
[quote author=JorgeStolfi link=topic=587295.msg6737079#msg6737079 date=1400128413]
liquidators (if Japanes law is like US law) will consider the total amount deposited into MtGOX minus the total withdrawn, converted to Yen at the historical BTC prices, ignoring the trades made inside the exchange and the final balances in the database.
[/quote]
Think about it, this would be completely ludicrous. 
[/quote]
Why?

If MtGOX's accounting had been fairly accurate, and the exchange had closed suddenly without blocking or delaying withdrawals, one could maybe take the balances seriously.  But accounting was 80% wrong, and for several months trading was distorted by the widthrawal problems.

The input-minus-output is fair since it considers what clients [b]actually lost[/b], now what they [b]thought that they had[/b] but had not.

[quote author=sobriket link=topic=587295.msg6749666#msg6749666 date=1400180115]
Madoff's example also isn't comparable with MtGox, a virtual currency exchange.
[/quote]
MtGOX was not registered as an exchange, and obviously did not operate like one.  Even if there are special laws for bankruptcy of exchanges, I don't see how they could legally be applied to MtGOX.

In any case, MtGOX was not that different from Madoff: clients gave Mark money and bitcoins, after a while Mark told them that they had lots more money in their accounts, but he actually did not have enough money to give everybody what he said they had.