Ex-Mt. Gox CEO to right wrongs with new exchange EllipX

Mark Karpelès, former Mt. Gox CEO, announced his new crypto exchange to “make right what went wrong” with the defunct Bitcoin trading venue.

Speaking at the Korea Blockchain Week 2024, Karpelès said the new crypto exchange, dubbed EllipX, would be based in Poland. EllipX will also comply with the European Union’s landmark Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, Karpelès added.

According to Mt. Gox’s former CEO, EllipX has an expansion plan beyond its European debut. The platform would also pay homage to the defunct Bitcoin (BTC) exchange by offering Mt. Gox users a 50% discount on trading fees. 

Karpelès told attendees that his new exchange intends to leverage new tools previously unavailable back in 2011 and 2014 when Mt. Gox was hacked. The plan is to focus on transparency at EllipX, Karpelès explained.

Although Karpelès received death threats at the time, he also spoke of community support and backing from Bitcoin proponents who pushed for his web3 return.

Karpelès returns as Mt. Gox finalizes repayments

Karpelès’ introduction of EllipX coincided with a period when Mt. Gox was finalizing repayments to creditors. The bankrupt Bitcoin exchange owed affected users around $9 billion in crypto. Mt. Gox has disbursed just over $6 billion and held some $3 billion of digital assets, likely earmarked to complete reimbursements.

The famous Bitcoin exchange was founded during the days of Bitcoin’s infancy. Shortly after meeting the company’s founder, Jed McCaleb, Karpelès bought the firm and took over leadership of its three-dozen customer base.

In less than three years, the platform grew to 60,000 users and eventually 1 million. What seemed like a promising startup tumbled into bankruptcy thanks to a series of hacks, which crippled the exchange.

Bad actors siphoned over 950,000 BTC from the exchange, starting a decade-long road to resolution. Ten years later, the crypto exchange is making users whole again, and Karpelès is back in Bitcoin.