The fact of the matter is these guys are not banks and a single bad employee could really crush an individual company and even hurt the industry

This.  That holds true of any fiduciary business with cryptocurrenncy. As cryptos become more mainstream the tendency will be for more and more regulation and centralization. Look at the problems with Mt Gox (aside from the Magic the Gathering trading design), UNOCS, and now with Sharmbeck (albeit in its infancy).  I am not sure that this is avoidable.  I have argued from the beginning that cryptocurrency should be treated as a tradeable commodity currency rather than a strict currency.  I am of the opinion that a currency needs to be backed by value and I feel this is proven by the failure of every fiat. So, for cryptocurrencies to succeed the need to have intrinsic value like precious metals.  The beauty of cryptos is that you don't need to worry about purity or weight the block chain does that for you.  One of the reasons I think GLD has a future is that as more less tech savvy people become involved they will identify with the idea of GOLD.  We need to find ways to link GLD to real value. The idea of exchanges and trusts are strong but they must be secure with out giving up autonomy.  I have been seeing more and more articles about marketing this coin or that proving I my mind that we are dealing with a tangible commodity that is being traded for fiat in most instances, even when it is exchanged for goods most merchants are then converting it to fiat. What we must find is a method of value retention. And no, I don't have any solutions. I entered this game as a trader and speculator and I am now starting to hold GLD and WDC as I think they have the best chance to survive against BTC. 

Sorry for the ramble, just my thoughts.

MODERATOR EDIT:  fix quote tag for better formatting.

if I understand you correctly you are trying to buy use PM as a way of stabilizing GLD in a depository business of some sort?  Where you can use GLD to purchase grains or shares? This is a great idea and I would look forward to helping this succeed.

so, what strategy (other than hold and wait    ) can we use to combat multipools, middlecoin, autosellers destroying the value of our coins? I am currently mining about 900 GLD/day and so far I've held them all. I am watching all alt coins lose value as new miners try to get ROI. I guess what I am asking is what plans are there to push this coin to the top?

thanks for the help

Hello. glad to be a part of Goldcoin