The Glory Days of Mt. Gox

Once upon a time in the land of Bitcoin, there was a little exchange called Mt. Gox. Founded in 2010 by Jed McCaleb, Mt. Gox rapidly became the behemoth of Bitcoin exchanges, handling more than 70% of all Bitcoin transactions in 2013. At the time, Bitcoin was the underground club of digital currencies, and Mt. Gox was the bouncer, ensuring only members had access to buy and sell their Bitcoin.

Ownership Change and Expansion

In 2011, McCaleb sold the platform to Mark Karpeles, who moved operations to Tokyo. Karpeles had big dreams of turning Mt. Gox into a full-fledged crypto trading powerhouse. Yet, oftentimes, even the brightest dreams can end in nightmares. Under Karpeles, Mt. Gox added new markets and even supported alternative cryptocurrencies, offering users a shiny new trading playground.

The Infamous Hack

In February 2014, as the Bitcoin market was thriving, disaster struck! Mt. Gox announced a halt to all withdrawals due to