Not sure that either are worse. They are both marketing exercises for self custody.

Of the two, MtGox had the greatest impact on the early stages of Bitcoin. MtGox at one point was responsible for handling over 70% of all Bitcoin transactions I think. The 2014 hack, with hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Bitcoin stolen led to a sharp decline in the value of Bitcoin, and early users who had their funds stored on the exchange lost everything.

The fallout from MtGox led to increased scrutiny of exchanges and a renewed focus on security measures (not your keys etc). It has also had a lasting impact on public perception of Bitcoin as a secure and trustworthy asset.

FTX, on the other hand, affected large numbers of ‘new entry’ cryptocurrency users and traders (used to more conventional and regulated platforms I suspect) who were messing around with hundreds of tokens / coins and while it was unfortunate for those involved, is unlikely to have the same long-lasting effects on the industry.

MtGox damaged Bitcoin - it bounced back and lessons were learnt. FTX damaged crypto - it will bounce back in all its ghastly forms and lessons will not be learnt.

It would be nit picking because neither event was really "worse" for Bitcoin but I am going with GOX. It was the only major fiat onramp into Bitcoin so when it went offline A lot of people had no way to buy or sell anything. It disenfranchised people including myself because GOX was the entire market and it had just collapsed. All of it. FTX had no chance to collapse the entire market.

I think shortly after a random exchange called trade tree or trade hill came online. It lasted for what seemed like only a few months before fizzling out. I think Coinbase came online shortly after.

Last year when FTX and all the rest blew up, I saw influencers shouting from the rooftops that Bitcoin adoption had been set back a decade. And yet not one year later we're buried under an avalanche of spot ETF applications.

In hindsight, the events of 2022 feel like a nothingburger. Who is really talking about FTX these days? MtGox will always be remembered because it was the first, but years from now I suspect FTX will be relegated to a curious footnote in the history books.

If worse-ness is a function of the cumulative per person net negative sentiment that results from a scandal, it seems like FTX is obviously worse.