Mt Gox

Basics

• Started in 10-2012
• First big Bitcoin exchange. Had a big hack which ended the first real Bitcoin Bullrun. The exchange was abruptly taken offline on February 25th, 2014.

• From Coin Metrics (25-8-2020):

"In the early days of crypto centralized exchanges began to emerge, horrifying the hardcore decentralization-focused cypherpunks. Trust is a luxury of optionality and there was almost no competition for any given job-to-be-done. These conditions allowed MtGox to simultaneously have 70% of the Bitcoin market and absolutely no controls upon which users could place their trust."

Team

• McCaleb, Jed; founder
• Karpeles, Mark; bought it from Jed McCaleb
• Powell, Jesse; helped out with Roger Ver during a crash. Now has oversight of Mt Gox claims of lost bitcoins.