tech

Head of Mt Gox bitcoin exchange says he is still in Japan

15 Comments
By YURI KAGEYAMA

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15 Comments
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Y'know, that's exactly what I would say as the president of a bank that mysteriously and suddenly lost anywhere from $365~$430 million dollars worth of Bitcoins...

...From the arrivals queue in Zurich, of course....

6 ( +7 / -1 )

Two paragraphs on a website is not going to make this chap many friends. Those people adventurous/dumb enough (depending on your point of view) to use this service are entitled to a detailed explanation of what went wrong because it may be assumed that the website in question was being run as a business. There has to be some form of contract that ties the parties together somewhere along the line.

A second issue is what to do. The common perception is that such activities occur beyond the law, but is that really true, the law being a very adaptable beast.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Catch Me If You Can (I'm in Japan). Starring Mark Karpeles and that British protester guy.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Surefire way for the global banking oligarchs to take down bitcoin

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Not mentioned: $400 MILLION went missing over several years - without anyone noticing. Great job, guys! Inside job?

0 ( +1 / -1 )

apparently the hammer is or already has come down on this guy. No one is getting anything and the bitcoin foundation and all other bitcoin exchanges are distancing themselves from Mark. He's going to jail for a long time.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

This guy basically ran a brokerage. Typically these things abide by financial laws in certain countries (if you're talking about FX for example)... and "bucket shops" who don't even execute their clients' trades, expecting them to lose money.... and when a rare trader actually make a LOT of money, they don't have the capitalization to offer a payout.

I have to wonder a few things. If the bitcoins were "stolen", then it was basically a computer crime of some sort.... but I wonder if it's just a cover for the aforementioned master trader coming along and draining it that way.

The next thing I wonder is what laws in Japan would apply to bitcoin, if any. Financial instruments are regulated.... so if he was trading equities for example, right now he would be off to the slammer.....but this is bitcoin and doesn't really "exist" in the strict sense, nor is it legally recognised in any way.

Would he go to jail? ... or would the fact that there are no laws surrounding bitcoin enable him to pack his suitcase and walk out of the country unhindered?

4 ( +4 / -0 )

already real money is virtual in usa and western europe, where you have no physical money with you, only cards. your money comes and goes virtually, in the cloud, and you never need to see it physically anymore.

but the bitcoin stuff sounds like pure scam. it is a virtualization of an already virtual idea. good luck to investors!

5 ( +5 / -0 )

The late evening news had a big feature on bitcoin. I walked into the room a few seconds late and missed a bit but I am pretty sure they were interviewing neighbors who said the wife and kids of Karpeles moved out of their lavish Shibuya home and moved to Canada in January. And an employee of MtGox who said Karpeles had been throwing money around in a big way, especially lately. It will be interesting to see if he really is still in Japan and what will happen to or around him in coming days.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

I explained bit coins a few weeks ago to a friend using an anology of baseball cards in that there in nothing of value backing them. Turns out I was wrong, baseball cards are a better investment. Who really invested in bit coins, besides the money launderers?

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Boosters of the online currency say cryptography makes it immune to theft or counterfeiting but Mt Gox’s problems have underlined its risks.

Immune to theft, but apparently not immune to embezzlement.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Maybe he's getting ready to start a new company teaching English. Probably call it NOVA or something like that....

Fadamor called it right.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Scam artist. Still think bitcoin is a buy. If not, it would currently be much cheaper.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Boosters of the online currency say cryptography makes it immune to theft

Who says this? It's clearly untrue. You can lose your bitcoins through having your computer hacked. MtGox appear to have lost their bitcoins due to using outdated software. If bitcoins couldn't be stolen MtGox wouldn't be in trouble.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

B.man:

" I explained bit coins a few weeks ago to a friend using an anology of baseball cards in that there in nothing of value backing them. "

There is nothing of value backing official currecies either. The only difference is that people put more trust in a government promise, But that is often also worthless.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

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