Is this basically the same sort of little keychain thing that some MMO's use for account security?

You can usually get a 'free' one if you buy the collector's edition. Of course, it's not exactly free. When you add up what you got in the Collectors edition and how much it cost the company probably, you paid more. But at least you don't get ripped off as much as if you just bought the security fob from them standalone. And the thing is, most people won't even think to do a little hypothetical math about costs and what they've already paid. They will just get the security dongle in the CE and think yaaaay CE is so cool look at all this suff I get woohooo.

Think about it...that's just for stupid MMOs.

So...Mt Gox really should obviously consider the customer service angle.

1st, it's probably better for them to use a 'generic' supplier in China rather than a brand like Yubikey. For the people they do charge, they could charge less and make more money.

2nd...give it to your good customers 'for free.'

As in, don't send one for free to every dink with 10 BTC and $100 in there.

DO send one for free to every dink with say, 100+ BTC and $1000+ in there.

Or whatever the numbers are. They have big fees. Some customers have paid a lot more in fees already than the real cost to MTGOX of these security fobs/dongles/whatevers.

So yeah this thread is basically right except don't give them away to just anybody. "Give" them away to customers who are worth it.

If they had taken the route of dealing with a generic Chinese manufacturer, it should only be a few $'s per customer. They could then charge the rest of their customers less money and yet make more profit on the endeavor.