Quote from: robertcarlyle on February 06, 2025, 09:45:21 PM

In the early days of bitcoin with mt gox having many issues were other exchanges immune from this that plagued mt gox?

There were many failed attempts at creating a way for people to buy and sell bitcoin. Some of them turned out to be scams, some of them got shut down by governments or lost their financial backing, some of them got hacked. Those who were around then learned quickly that self-custody is very important.

Quote from: robertcarlyle on February 06, 2025, 09:45:21 PM

How could early bitcoin adopters protect themselves from fraud, hackers stealing their fund at around the time mt gox debuted?

Check the reputation of the service. Get your bitcoins (or cash) out of there as fast as possible. Make several smaller purchases, rather than one large purchase to reduce exposure.

Quote from: robertcarlyle on February 06, 2025, 09:45:21 PM

Would word of mouth spread of all these problems?

If you made the effort to learn about bitcoin and the various services before you engaged in any transactions, then there definitely was information available to help you minimize risk.

One of the best ways I found to minimize risk back then was a service called LocalBitcoins. That website would connect people locally that wanted to buy and sell and then they could meet in person at a safe and secure location to make the exchange. Taking some precautions, this was a great way to avoid needing to trust a third party with your bitcoins.