Mark Karpelès

Former CEO of Mt. Gox

Mark Karpelès

Born|

Mark Robert Karpelès

1985 (age 39-40)

Chenôve, France

Occupation| Entrepreneur
Known for| Former CEO of Mt. Gox

Mark Robert Karpelès[1] (born 1985) is a French businessman and the former CEO of bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox.[2][3] While Mt. Gox became the world's largest bitcoin exchange at its peak under his management, the company would file for bankruptcy in 2014, and Karpelès was subsequently arrested and convicted of data manipulation related to his role there.[4][5][6]

## Early life and education

[edit]

Born in 1985 in Chenôve, France, Karpelès is the child of geologist Anne-Robert Karpelès.[7][8] He was raised in Dijon.[7][9] From 1995 to 2000, he attended Collège Prieuré de Binson in Châtillon-sur-Marne, near Dormans.[2] He then spent one year at Lycée Claude Bernard in Paris before completing his education in 2003 at Lycée Louis Armand in Paris.[2]

## Career

[edit]

Karpelès moved to Japan in 2009 and founded Tibanne Co. Ltd., a Japan-based bitcoin related technology provider, where he served as CEO.[10][11][12][13] In 2011, Karpelès acquired the Mt. Gox bitcoin exchange site from programmer Jed McCaleb, with its original owner receiving 12% of the shares of the new company.[14][15][16] He became a founding member of the Bitcoin Foundation, which was created in 2012 to standardize and promote bitcoin, serving on its board until February 2014.[17][18]

At Mt. Gox, the platform grew under his management and handled the majority of global Bitcoin transactions by 2014.[19][20] Despite its growth, Mt. Gox faced growing operational, security, and financial challenges, including having $5 million seized from its accounts by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in 2013 for allegedly lying on bank documents.[21][22][23] Mt. Gox then experienced a theft of a significant amount of Bitcoin in 2014.[24] Mt. Gox subsequently filed for bankruptcy, and Karpelès was arrested that year and eventually convicted of data manipulation and falsification of records at Mt. Gox.[25][26][27] The collapse of Mt. Gox, and Karpelès's role in it, led Japan to create the first formal regulations for cryptocurrency exchanges and virtual currencies.[28]

After the collapse of Mt. Gox, Karpelès joined London Trust Media, the company behind Freenode and Private Internet Access, as its CTO in April 2018.[29]

## Arrests and convictions

[edit]

In 2010, at the age of 25, Karpelès was found guilty of fraud during a trial in absentia in France related to his actions on a private server, and he was sentenced to one year in jail.[30][31] Karpelès had previously been arrested twice in France for charges related to computer fraud, and was convicted and received a suspended sentence of three months as a result of one of the arrests.[32]

In April 2014, after Mt. Gox had filed for bankruptcy, Karpelès was subpoenaed by the United States Department of the Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) to testify in Washington, D.C.[33][34][35] He responded through his lawyers that he would not be attending the deposition.[36]

On 1 August 2015, Karpelès was arrested by Japanese authorities on suspicion of accessing the Mt. Gox computer system to manipulate account balances.[37][38][39] Tokyo prosecutors indicted Karpelès on a series of charges, including embezzlement and aggravated breach of trust, and called for a 10-year prison sentence.[40] Karpelès pleaded not guilty to the charges.[41] On 14 March 2019, the Tokyo District Court found Karpelès guilty of one count of data manipulation for falsifying data to inflate Mt. Gox's holdings by $33.5 million and not guilty of all other charges.[27] He was sentenced to 30 months in prison, suspended for four years, which meant he would serve no time in prison unless he committed additional offenses over the next four years.[42][43] The court said Karpelès had inflicted "massive harm to the trust of his users" and there was "no excuse" for him to "abuse his status and authority to perform clever criminal acts".[27] Karpelès issued a statement saying he was "happy to be judged not guilty" on the more serious charges and was discussing how to proceed with his lawyers regarding his conviction on the falsifying data charge.[44] His appeal was rejected by the Tokyo High Court in 2020.[45]

During the 2015 trial of Ross William Ulbricht for operating the Silk Road marketplace, his defense argued that Karpelès, rather than Ulbricht, was the individual behind the pseudonym "Dread Pirate Roberts".[46] Homeland Security Investigations agent Jared Der-Yeghiayan had also suspected Karpelès during a 2012–2013 investigation.[47] Karpelès denied any involvement, and Ulbricht was ultimately convicted.[48][49]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Farivar, Cyrus (10 March 2014). "MtGox files for US bankruptcy protection to put lawsuits on hold". Ars Technica.
2. ^ a b c "Mark Robert KARPELÈS, 28 ans (TOKYO, CHATILLON SUR MARNE, PARIS)". Copains d'avant – L'Internaute (in French). CCM Benchmark Group. Retrieved 27 February 2014.
3. ^ King, Leo (26 February 2014). "Mt. Gox CEO Mark Karpeles: 'I am still in Japan'". Forbes. Retrieved 27 February 2014.
4. ^ "Bitcoin rebounds to $57,000 after billions in Mt. Gox refunds fueled a selloff". Quartz. 8 July 2024. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
5. ^ "Germans, Mt. Gox, or Feds: Who Caused the Bitcoin Dip?". Financial and Business News | Finance Magnates. 8 July 2024. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
6. ^ Zielinski, Radek (8 July 2024). "Mt. Gox to repay investors in Bitcoin". ReadWrite. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
7. ^ a b Gautronneau, Vincent (3 January 2014). "Le génie côte-d'orien qui fait trembler le net". Le Journal de Saône et Loire (in French).
8. ^ Aubourg, Lucie (11 September 2015). "Former Bitcoin Exchange CEO Charged With Embezzlement in Japan". Vice.
9. ^ Mick, Jason (5 March 2014). "Bitcoin King: Mt. Gox CEO Mark Karpelès' History of Arrests, Firings". DailyTech. Archived from the original on 9 March 2014. Retrieved 9 March 2014.
10. ^ Warnock, Eleanor; Mochizuki, Takashi (28 February 2014). "Bitcoin's Mt. Gox: a look at the man in charge". The Wall Street Journal.
11. ^ Philippe, Berry (27 February 2014). "MtGox: Mark Karpèles, un "supergeek" français au cœur du scandale bitcoin". 20 Minutes (in French). Retrieved 27 February 2014.
12. ^ "US judge freezes assets of Mt.Gox bitcoin exchange boss". CNBC. 12 March 2014.
13. ^ David Meyer (31 May 2013). "A Bitcoin Exchange Goes for Respectability". Businessweek.com. Archived from the original on 7 June 2013. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
14. ^ Rachel Abrams Matthew Goldstein and Hiroko Tabuchi (28 February 2014). "Erosion of Faith Was Death Knell for Mt. Gox". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
15. ^ Jeffries, Adrianne (1 April 2013). "Barons of Bitcoin". The Verge. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
16. ^ "Bitcoin Exchange Mt. Gox Files for Bankruptcy in U.S. -- 2nd Update - WSJ.com". online.wsj.com. Archived from the original on 11 March 2014.
17. ^ "Mt. Gox resigns from Bitcoin Foundation". Reuters. 23 February 2014. Retrieved 25 February 2014.
18. ^ "Mt. Gox quits Bitcoin Foundation board". PCWorld. 24 February 2014. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
19. ^ "Mt Gox: The brief reign of bitcoin's top exchange".
20. ^ "Apparent Theft at Mt. Gox Shakes Bitcoin World".
21. ^ McMillan, Robert. "The Inside Story of Mt. Gox, Bitcoin's $460 Million Disaster". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 8 September 2024.
22. ^ Pagliery, Jose (25 February 2014). "As Mt.Gox website is taken down, Bitcoin's future is called into question". CNNMoney.
23. ^ Dillet, Romain (23 August 2013). "Feds Seize Another $2.1 Million From Mt. Gox, Adding Up To $5 Million". TechCrunch.
24. ^ Hern, Alex (28 February 2014). "MtGox files for bankruptcy in Japan after collapse of bitcoin exchange". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 8 September 2024.
25. ^ "Bitcoin Exchange Mt. Gox Files for U.S. Bankruptcy as Death Spiral Continues". WIRED. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
26. ^ McMillan, Robert. "The Inside Story of Mt. Gox, Bitcoin's $460 Million Disaster". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
27. ^ a b c "Former Mt. Gox CEO Mark Karpeles Gets Suspended Jail Term". Bloomberg.com. 15 March 2019. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
28. ^ Beattie, Elizabeth (21 October 2024). "The unsinkable Mark Karpeles is willing to give Tokyo another shot". The Japan Times.
29. ^ Goldman, Joshua (23 April 2018). "Former Mt. Gox bitcoin exchange CEO Karpeles lands new job". CNET. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
30. ^ Farivar, Cyrus (1 August 2014). "Why the head of Mt. Gox Bitcoin exchange should be in jail". Ars Technica. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
31. ^ Alonso, Pierre (1 August 2014). "En France, le passé trouble de l'ancien " baron du bitcoin "" [Old bitcoin baron's old trouble in France]. Le Monde (in French). Retrieved 1 August 2014.
32. ^ Knight, Sophie (22 April 2014). "At Mt. Gox bitcoin hub, 'geek' CEO sought both control and escape". Reuters.
33. ^ "Mt. Gox founder won't appear in U.S. for questions about bankruptcy case". Reuters. 15 April 2014. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
34. ^ "Mt. Gox founder won't attend US bankruptcy hearing". CNET. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
35. ^ John Ribeiro (15 April 2014). "Mt. Gox seeks postponement of CEO's U.S. court deposition". Computerworld. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
36. ^ "BBC News - MtGox chief refuses to go to Bitcoin bankruptcy hearing". BBC News. 15 April 2014. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
37. ^ "MtGox bitcoin chief Mark Karpeles arrested in Japan". BBC News. 1 August 2015. Retrieved 1 August 2015.
38. ^ Jonathan Soble (1 August 2015). "Mark Karpeles, Chief of Bankrupt Bitcoin Exchange, Is Arrested in Tokyo". The New York Times. Retrieved 1 August 2015.
39. ^ "Mt. Gox bitcoin firm head arrested". The Japan News by The Yomiuri Shimbun. 1 August 2015. Retrieved 1 August 2015.
40. ^ "Mt Gox Bitcoin exchange's Karpeles avoids jail time in Japan". AP News. 15 March 2019. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
41. ^ "Chief of bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox denies embezzlement as trial opens". Reuters. 11 July 2017. Retrieved 6 November 2017.
42. ^ Dooley, Ben (15 March 2019). "Bitcoin Tycoon Who Oversaw Mt. Gox Implosion Gets Suspended Sentence". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
43. ^ "MtGox bitcoin founder learns fate on embezzlement charges". France 24. 14 March 2019. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
44. ^ Pham, Sherisse (15 March 2019). "Former Mt. Gox chief Mark Karpeles acquitted of most charges in major bitcoin case". CNN. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
45. ^ Kageyama, Yuri (12 June 2020). "Japan court backs Karpeles conviction for data manipulation". AP News.
46. ^ Paul, Kari (15 January 2015). "Defense in Silk Road Trial Says Mt. Gox CEO Was the Real Dread Pirate Roberts". Vice. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
47. ^ Jeong, Sarah. "Was Mt. Gox CEO The Dread Pirate Roberts? The DHS Once Believed It". Forbes. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
48. ^ Koebler, Jason (16 January 2015). "Mt. Gox CEO Denies Silk Road Involvement: 'I Am Not Dread Pirate Roberts'". Vice. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
49. ^ Mullin, Joe (4 February 2015). "Ulbricht guilty in Silk Road online drug-trafficking trial". Ars Technica. Retrieved 4 February 2015.

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