Former CEO of the Defunct Mt. Gox Bitcoin Exchange Gets a New Crypto Job
Mark Karpelès, the former CEO of the now-defunct Mt. Gox Bitcoin exchange has landed a new cryptocurrency job. London Trust Media, a U.S.-based corporation has hired Karpelès as its new Chief Technology Officer (CTO). The company, based in Denver, Colorado, is reported to be the most extensive virtual private network (VPN) service provider in the world. The news was confirmed by a message sent by Karpelès to Fortune where he admitted that it was his primary job at the moment.
Experience and Know-how
London Trust Media companies include Private Internet Access, BlockExplorer, FreeNode, and Linux Journal.
(Source: Youtube)
London Trust Media has been making some inroads in the crypto market. The company was an early-stage investor in Zcash, a cryptocurrency with a big focus on privacy. The company also invested in Purse, a startup that enables people to shop on Amazon using bitcoin.
The company’s foray into cryptocurrency might have informed its decision to hire Mark Karpelès. Commenting on the matter, Andrew Lee, the co-founder, and chairman of the company described Karpelès as a man of skill, experience, and know-how. He went on to say that despite the travails that Karpelès has faced so far, he is still a “seasoned warrior” and an asset to the organization.
Legal Troubles and Mt. Gox Heist
Mark Karpelès has been at the center of a legal storm in the aftermath of the Mt. Gox hack which led to the platform declaring bankruptcy in 2014. He was arrested by Japanese authorities in 2015 but was released on bail. Karpelès is required to remain in Japan under the terms of his bail.
As a result, he will be working remotely from Japan. Ever since the Mt. Gox fiasco, he has become something akin to anathema within the crypto community. According to his own admission, he has had to juggle different jobs in diverse niches like online gaming, IP services, and network communications. The uncertainty over his legal situation certainly hasn’t helped the matter.
The Mt. Gox Heist resulted in the theft of 850,000 bitcoins which at the time was the biggest cryptocurrency hack of all time. It also plunged the most significant bitcoin exchange platform in the world into bankruptcy and Karpelès became villain numero uno in the crypto community.
(Source: Coinmarketcap)
The IT generalist did eventually find 200,000 of the stolen bitcoins, but the other 650,000 has never been recovered. At the time of the heist, the coins were worth about $480 million.
Karpelès recently issued an apology on the matter, insisting that he wanted no part in any leftover settlement funds.
Bitcoin is Doomed
These days, Karpelès does not appear to overly enthusiastic about bitcoin and the crypto market in general. He has had enough of virtual currencies and has decided to wash his hands completely of it. He accused the bitcoin community of being highly-polarizing and that the situation has made bitcoin lose its way in terms of being the future of money.
Karpelès no longer believes such a lofty ambition can be actualized, stating that bitcoin is, in fact, “doomed.”
