Also, a note from the linked article - "In 2014, the Tokyo-based Mt Gox trading exchange declared bankruptcy when hundreds of millions of dollars in bitcoins vanished or were stolen" - wasn't the general consensus that the coins vanished into the pockets of the guys running the place?
It's all BitFinex's fault and it's bad for Bitcoin reputation.
The real issue for me is the lack regulation (the complete absence of it) that allow them to vanish with the coins or get rape by one hacker finding a flaw in their system without having to really handle all the shit that hit the fan.
But I think it's fun to trade and it's a part of what Bitcoin needs to grow further.
I personally trade @BitMex. They got my trust but it's base on pure air as you mention. Nothing can prove to me they are bulletproof you're damm right about that. The only thing I know is all the withdraws are validated by 2 pairs of eyeballs. At least, that is what they said.
Like I said, I trade for fun. If i win, it's nice but if I loose it all. It's no big deal. That is where my trust with them will go, for now.
I play the easy game but when I see a 1 million wall @BitMex, it blows my head off. I guess it's the all about the "money trill" (Not sure the expression is good but I mean to be push by the fact of winning more money)
I would resume it as a very bad and unsecured implementation of the blockchain's technology and we/they need to learn from it.
My first idea would be to look into a way to use a sidechain for all their internal transactions. Nothing get out of it until a withdraw is approve and by a manual approval process, I mean something serious.
But i'm just thinking out loud.