For anyone interested in what happened at MtGox...
To be honest the whole issue looks very suspiciously like an insider job, otherwise why didn't anyone notice the bitcoins vanishing without them being replaced with money?
if it wasn't then some people acted very stupidly.
End of bitcoin Sam? not quite. Bitcoin value has dropped but it depends on supply and demand. Really BTC is a worthless item based on computational power and belief and hope. There are plenty of currencies that are based purely on belief and hope. That would be all of them.
Look at any UK currency note, it says clearly 'we promise to pay the bearer the sum of X pounds' making it an IOU. Most currency is stored as numbers by banks, not actual notes or coins.