Mt. Gox CEO Says Leaked Documents More or Less Legit
Mark Karpeles, CEO of troubled Japan-based bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox, has responded informally to reports of major problems at his business and rumors that his company will be rebranding its services.
In an online chat conversation published by Fox Business, Karpeles told consultant Jon Fisher that he is not giving up on Mt. Gox.
When asked by Fisher if documents purporting the exchange's insolvency are true, Karpeles replied:
Karpeles also revealed his company was not the author of the document, titled 'Crisis Strategy Draft', saying:
The news comes as the ripple effects of Mt. Gox's abrupt closure continue to be felt in the industry in the actions of business partners and the movements of the overall market.
Volume
Regulatory pressure has been a big problem for Mt. Gox according to Karpeles:
Prior to the suspension of trading that then led to the site going offline, Mt. Gox was one of the biggest US dollar bitcoin exchanges.
According to Bitcoin Charts market data, Mt. Gox's previous 30-day volume was 1,030,921 BTC, valued at $377,383,264.92 USD.
By volume, Mt. Gox was still the biggest exchange for the BTC/USD trading pair.
Reaction
Major news outlets are reporting that Mt. Gox's problems "spell doom" for bitcoin, or that there is at least "bitcoin turmoil".
Jon Matonis, the president of the Bitcoin Foundation, tweeted that a systematic failure of this major bitcoin exchange is quite different from centralized financial systems:
If MtGox operated in traditional financial system, losses would be "papered over" by the regulators and government insurers (i.e. taxpayers)
Some are taking heed to investor Marc Andreessen's assessment that there is a MF Global comparison to be made regarding Mt Gox.
@jonmatonis While no one is happy about #MFGox, at least there is no bail out.
Karpeles maintains he is not in hiding, posting this image of his workspace, and as reported by Fox Business he is:
The desktop of Mt. Gox CEO, Mark Karpeles
Full Chat Log
CoinDesk is monitoring this developing story, and will post updates as they become known.
Markets image via Shutterstock
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