Remember that Pirate40 was charged by the SEC for violating securities law. Securities laws do apply to bitcoin businesses. Clearly there is a difference between a BTC-denominated security and BTC -- but I am very much unconvinced that securities regulation do not apply to pertinent businesses.
In my view, this would very much violate the spirit of securities regulation. The fact that BTC is not backed by any asset does not explicitly allow businesses to engage in fraud.
Sure, if there are no laws that can be applied, there are no laws that can be applied. You haven't actually done the legal research to determine whether or not there are applicable laws.
No, I haven't and there probably are laws that can be applied. Pirate40 violated SEC law because he was engaged in a fraudalent Ponzi
investment scheme. This falls under the SEC and is completely different than someone front-running unregulated Bitcoin or simply stealing someone else's coins. If someone broke into your house and stole your BTC, the SEC would not get involved.
Listen, I am not defending Gox. I can't stand the company. And they probably committed fraud on many levels that can be prosecuted under some sort of law. The FBI would probably have found a way to prosecute them for wire fraud (at least) if they were US based and accepting USD. But you mentioned insider trading and front running in a previous post. IMO securities law does not apply to those and may not apply here because he was not engaged in an "investment" scheme and securities laws don't apply to Bitcoin trading.
I will say -- back in April Gox put out a ridiculous PR stating the Bitcoin is meant to always increase in value, among other very unprofessional statements. In the US, the SEC probably would've gotten involved because you cannot improperly promote something as an investment.
Again, not legal advice -- simply my opinion.
