Mt. Gox
Defunct Bitcoin exchange based in Japan / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Mt. Gox was a Bitcoin exchange based in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan.[1] Launched in 2010, it handled over 70% of all Bitcoin transactions worldwide by early 2014. In February 2014, Mt. Gox abruptly ceased operations, citing the loss or theft of approximately 850,000 bitcoins, then valued at hundreds of millions of US dollars.[2][3][4][5][6][7]
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Type | Bitcoin exchange |
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Location | Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan |
Founded | 2010 (2010) |
Closed | 2014 |
Owner | Tibanne Ltd. |
Currency | Bitcoin |
Website | www |
In February 2014, Mt. Gox suspended trading, closed its website and exchange service, and filed for bankruptcy protection from creditors.[8][9] By April 2014, the company had entered liquidation proceedings.[10] Although 200,000 bitcoins were subsequently recovered, the initial reasons for their disappearance remained unclear. In April 2015, Tokyo security company WizSec presented evidence indicating that most or all of the missing bitcoins were stolen directly from Mt. Gox's hot cryptocurrency wallet over time, beginning in late 2011.[11][12]
In 2017, Alexander Vinnik, the Russian operator of the Bitcoin exchange BTC-e, was arrested in Greece and indicted for laundering over $4 billion, including funds stolen from the hack of Mt. Gox.[13] US authorities accused Vinnik of using BTC-e to launder money for individuals involved in crimes such as computer hacking and drug trafficking.[14] They also linked him to the collapse of Mt. Gox, alleging that he laundered the stolen funds through BTC-e and Tradehill, another exchange he owned.[15] Vinnik's arrest was part of a series of US operations against Russian cybercriminals in Europe.[16] In May 2024, Vinnik pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering.[17]
In June 2023, the United States Department of Justice charged two Russian nationals, Alexey Bilyuchenko and Aleksandr Verner, with conspiring to launder approximately 647,000 bitcoins stolen in the 2014 hack of Mt. Gox.[18] The stolen bitcoins were valued at roughly half a billion dollars at the time.[19]