I would contend being owed btc by gox is different than usd. The btc is held in cold and hot storage whereas the usd is held by a bank that does not hold 100% of deposits.
I don't think it has anything to do with the bank's reserve policies.What is clear from the regulatory atmosphere is that traditional banks are not open to bitcoin. Would you keep all your money with banks that won't process your payments? The problem for Gox is, obviously, that no banks want to touch them, and for good reason. That doesn't mean Gox can't pay you; like other grey/black markets (e.g. online poker for US), it just may take 3, or 6, or 8 months.
Regardless, I trust Gox's bank 100x more than I trust Gox. In my mind, if the risk is liquidity, it's much more likely that Gox will leave us holding the bag, not its bank. (I think this is extremely unlikely anyway)
No different than dollars, Gox only needs to keep as much BTC on hand as is required for payouts. Same as USD. They can do whatever they want; it's not as if they keep an open ledger than can be independently audited. It's all unsafe, regardless of banks. This is a highly unregulated market -- your BTC is not safe, your USD is not safe. If it comes to it, you'll be lucky to get pennies on the dollar for your USD balance years later, zilch for your BTC balance, if Gox goes down. At least banks have legally required reserve ratios. What is the legally required reserve ratio for BTC?





