Mark Karpeles

Mark Karpeles (born in 1985) is a former CEO of the defunct Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox. In the crypto community, he is best known for his involvement in the Mt. Gox incident which involved the loss of nearly USD 500 million for the users of this exchange’s services. Karpeles is one of the founding members of the Bitcoin Foundation. This organization was established in 2012 with the goal of standardizing and promoting the use of Bitcoin. Karpeles is facing a 10-year prison term on charges of embezzlement in Japan as his country of residence. In early 2019, he was found guilty for tampering with Mt. Gox’ financial records and misuse its finances for the personal gain. Yet, based on news reports from March 2019, he is likely to avoid having to serve prison term after he received a suspended sentence.