I could not agree with you more.
I think the fact that most of the trade occurs on their own exchange gives them enormous ability to manipulate the price and keep it afloat longer. The price has bounced back this time but apparently bitcoin withdrawals are still disabled....
That's not even close to being "rocket science," it's just common sense: if you can't get your money back out of it, they can say it's gone up 5000% - but it doesn't matter, because you're not going to be getting any of your BitCoins back out of it. Sounds more than screwy, to me.
I'm 100% with you on this, can't get your money out then this is a very bad sign. It is a ponzi and will pop one day, let's just hope it doesn't hurt the crypto community. Although that being said we've been through pretty much everything with the likes of MTGox and SilkRoad. Let's just hope people can take note of this article and get their funds out asap.