The Story of Mt. Gox: Explained (2024)

Cryptocurrency

Published on: Jul 17, 2024

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In Brief

Explore the story of Mt. Gox, how it lost 850,000 BTC to hackers and how the events of 2014 are still influencing the Bitcoin price today.

Mt. Gox was once the world's largest Bitcoin exchange, handling over 70% of all BTC transactions at its peak. The Mt. Gox Bitcoin story is one of rapid growth, devastating hacks, and a prolonged legal battle that continues to this day.

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The Origin Story

In 2006, a programmer, Jed McCaleb, created Mt. Gox as a platform for trading "Magic: The Gathering Online" cards. The Mt. Gox site was repurposed in 2010 to launch a Bitcoin exchange, capitalizing on the growing interest in cryptocurrency. On its first day of operation, Mt. Gox enabled the trading of just 20 Bitcoins, each selling for a mere 5 cents.

In 2011, McCaleb sold Mt. Gox to French developer, Mark Karpelès, who was living in Japan at the time. When Karpelès took over, Mt. Gox was a relatively small Bitcoin exchange. Under his leadership, it grew rapidly to become the largest Bitcoin exchange in the world.

At its peak, Mt. Gox was handling over 70% of all Bitcoin transactions globally. This meteoric rise was driven by Karpelès' efforts to expand Mt. Gox's user base and trading volume. Mt. Gox effectively became the centre of the Bitcoin market. It was the go-to exchange for buying, selling, and trading Bitcoins. Karpelès positioned Mt. Gox as the leading player in the nascent cryptocurrency space, solidifying its status as the dominant Bitcoin exchange.

This rapid growth came at a cost, as Mt. Gox's operations were plagued by a series of security breaches and other failures that led to its downfall.

The Big Hack

In June 2011, Mt. Gox reported that 25,000 Bitcoins (worth around $400,000 at the time) had been stolen from 478 user accounts. This was just the beginning of the exchange's troubles. Later that year, a hacker allegedly used credentials from a Mt. Gox auditor's compromised computer to transfer a large number of Bitcoins illegally to themselves, causing the nominal price of a Bitcoin to plummet to one cent on the exchange.

The most devastating blow came in February 2014, when Mt. Gox suddenly suspended withdrawals, citing "suspicious activity" in its digital wallets. It was later revealed that 850,000 Bitcoin, estimated to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars, had disappeared from the exchange. This led to Mt. Gox's bankruptcy filing, and a directive to liquidate the company to repay creditors.

The Collapse

The Mt. Gox hack severely eroded users’ faith in the exchange's ability to secure their funds, leading to a significant decline in confidence.

Before the final collapse, users experienced significant delays in withdrawing their funds. The prolonged freeze on withdrawals, which was initially attributed to technical issues, further undermined trust. This led to widespread anxiety and suspicion among users.

The hacking incidents and subsequent financial losses associated with Mt. Gox's collapse damaged the exchange's reputation beyond repair. The exchange's inability to safeguard user assets highlighted the risks of relying on centralized exchanges, a lesson that continues to be emphasized in the cryptocurrency community.

The legal battles and regulatory scrutiny that followed the collapse of Mt. Gox further eviscerated the exchange's reputation.

The incident led to a significant shift in the cryptocurrency industry. Many exchanges and advocates emphasized the importance of self-custody and decentralized solutions to avoid the vulnerabilities exposed by the Mt. Gox chaos. This shift contributed to the growth of decentralized exchanges and decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms.

The Aftermath

The collapse of Mt. Gox was a significant setback for the Bitcoin community, as it shook confidence in the security and reliability of cryptocurrency exchanges. The theft of an estimated 650,000 Bitcoins from the exchange, which at current market prices would be worth over $22 billion, made the Mt. Gox hack the largest hack in crypto history.

In the years following the Mt. Gox collapse, the exchange's former CEO, Mark Karpelès, was convicted of data falsification to inflate the company's holdings. The exact details of how the hack occurred and who was responsible remain a mystery, with the prevailing view being that Karpelès was more negligent, rather than malicious.

The CEO, Mark Karpelès, was charged with fraud and embezzlement, and the exchange's bankruptcy proceedings revealed significant financial discrepancies, further eroding trust.

The Road to Repayment

In a surprising twist, Karpelès later discovered an old Bitcoin wallet containing 200,000 Bitcoins, which he believed had been stolen. This discovery reignited hopes for the recovery of some of the lost funds.

After years of legal battles and delays, in November 2021, an agreement was reached between Japanese courts, Mt. Gox creditors, and the exchange's trustee, Nobuaki Kobayashi, regarding a rehabilitation plan for repaying affected users. The Mt. Gox payout plan involves a phased registration and compensation scheme for different creditor groups.

The Mt. Gox saga continued into 2023, with the trustee extending the claims submission deadline multiple times to ensure a fair and comprehensive process.

Starting in early July 2024, Mt. Gox will start repaying 140,000 BTC worth around $9 billion to its creditors. This repayment follows a decade-long wait after the exchange's collapse in 2014.

The impending distribution of these funds has raised concerns about increased selling pressure on the Bitcoin market. Analysts predict that creditors may sell their received assets to realize profits, especially given Bitcoin's 16,000% price appreciation since the Mt. Gox hack. Some experts anticipate that Bitcoin's price could drop towards $55,000 amid the Mt. Gox payout in July, although they remain optimistic about the overall market outlook.

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Conclusion

Mt. Gox serves as a cautionary tale for the cryptocurrency industry. Mt Gox's rapid growth, coupled with its lack of operational expertise and security measures resulted in its downfall. The legacy of Mt. Gox continues to shape the evolution of crypto, as the industry learns from its mistakes and works to build more secure and reliable exchanges.

The recovery of the lost bitcoins and the repayment to affected users is a testament to the resilience and determination of the cryptocurrency community. As the Mt. Gox payout continues to unfold, it serves as a reminder of the importance of prioritizing security, transparency, and responsible leadership in the rapidly evolving world of digital assets.

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Note: Any cited numbers, figures, or illustrations are reported at the time of writing, and are subject to change.