The self-proclaimed "world's largest bitcoin exchange" is basically saying it is to hard to take a collection of their own addresses, count the amount of BTC constituted by all unspent outputs in that wallet, and compare it with the expected balance.
The question is - how many other exchanges have been robbed blind and aren't aware of it? This exchange has lost 750,000 BTC. My God, you'd think that would be like trying to drive a dumptruck full of nitroglycerin through an obstacle course. Yet somehow, this was pulled off. Gox 'n' company might be unusually idiotic, but don't bet on it. Perhaps there is more to this story than meets the eye. What if TX malleability wasn't really to blame? Another vulnerability perhaps? Are other exchanges being milked dry before our very eyes? Who knows.
