‘Mt. Gox used customers’ money for operating expenses’

Two years ago, there would have been doubts about the financial integrity of the bitcoin exchange Mt. gox. CEO Mark Karpeles was questioned by employees about using customer money to cover operating costs. mt. Gox has filed for bankruptcy.

Reuters reports that based on interviews with employees of Mt. gox. They would have already sounded the alarm in 2012 about the financial practices of the bitcoin exchange. They suspected that Mt. Gox used customer money to cover rising operating costs. For example, CEO Mark Karpeles was suspected of channeling money to pay, among other things, the rent of an office building, various gadgets and a car.

Karpeles allegedly denied during a conversation with the employees in question that money from customers was used to cover operating costs. However, the chief executive did not provide any insight into Mt. Gox and declined to explain exactly how the company’s losses were covered.

The financial integrity of the bankrupt bitcoin exchange has long been questioned. The company previously announced that approximately 850,000 bitcoins had been stolen, saying it was due to transaction malleability. However, researchers stated that only 386 bitcoins could have been stolen through this bug, making the statements of Mt. Gox were questioned. In Japan, authorities are investigating the financial practices of Mt. gox.