So far, it seems that those who had fiat balances at Mt. Gox haven't had their funds returned to them. Even if most of it is still there in Mt. Gox's bank accounts, since Mt. Gox was liquidated, those who had deposited fiat are now pretty much in the same boat as those who only had BTC. But that's not really what I'm talking about.
Instead, what I find particularly interesting is that according to this translation of a Japanese article about the bankruptcy, a large portion of their fiat balance actually went missing too:
Quote from: jasonmaurice
In investigation of the company, it is said that most of 750,000 BTC (about 41 billion yen in today's money) kept for the customer and 100,000 BTC (about 5.5 billion yen) which it has at its company were lost.
Furthermore, the potential 2.8 billion yen among the cash kept for the customers in the company's bank account is also reported to have disappeared.
When asked about the possibility of returning bitcoins to the customers, or cash, the representative's lawyer responded, "We have absolutely no idea."
Unlawful access by a hacker regards the company as the cause, and it says it "There is also such a trace" (lawyer) each that bitcoin and cash were lost.
Furthermore, the potential 2.8 billion yen among the cash kept for the customers in the company's bank account is also reported to have disappeared.
When asked about the possibility of returning bitcoins to the customers, or cash, the representative's lawyer responded, "We have absolutely no idea."
Unlawful access by a hacker regards the company as the cause, and it says it "There is also such a trace" (lawyer) each that bitcoin and cash were lost.
How is this possible? Could a business really "misplace" fiat in a way that doesn't leave a trail? Could a business really have their fiat balances "hacked"? I'm not doubting the veracity of the article because the fact that Mt. Gox did indeed lose this 2.8 billion yen is common knowledge but I am curious to know how something like this could actually happen.
EDIT: Not sure if this is the right section for this or if it's better suited for Service Discussion or Off-topic. Hmm...