A tidbit of history about Mt. Gox.

[randomness]

Mt. Gox is the world's largest Bitcoin exchange, handling over two thirds of transactions.

Ever wonder where the somewhat odd name came from?

It once stood for Magic: The Gathering Online Exchange. The company started out as an exchange for Magic cards. In between they hosted an online fantasy turn-based strategy game. Then they hit it big with Bitcoins.

Full marks for corporate agility, I say.

Comments

[cerebralpaladin.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I find that pretty impressive (and amusing) as well. Of course, the difference between MtG cards and Bitcoins is that MtG cards have a small amount of intrinsic value... :)

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

:)

[esmerel.livejournal.com]

You can tell I'm a parent. My first thought was _One Fish, Two Fish_, because in that book, one of the characters likes to box. The thing he likes to box is a Gox. He has special socks to box the gox. His gox box socks. :)

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

Yay Dr. Seuss!

[nathanjw]

I've been pointing this out to people for a while. I find it pretty horrifying, personally.

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

In principle, there's nothing necessarily wrong with a CCG exchange repurposing itself into a currency trader.

In principle.

[achinhibitor.livejournal.com]

I wonder if they changed the name because they hadn't licensed "Magic: The Gathering".