Fact check
Is it true: Mt. Gox 850k BTC loss: insider theft vs malleability hack (2014)?
Partly — it's more complicated than the claim suggests.
Mt. Gox's malleability explanation was forensically inadequate. WizSec's blockchain analysis attributed losses to systematic key theft beginning 2011. Karpelès convicted of data falsification (2019), acquitted of embezzlement. Vinnik indicted 2017 for laundering ~300k BTC of Mt. Gox proceeds via BTC-e. Identity of original hacker remains unresolved. Theft (not malleability) is the better-supported account.
The claim
Mt. Gox, once the world's largest Bitcoin exchange, collapsed in February 2014 after announcing the loss of approximately 850,000 BTC (then ~$450M; worth billions at later prices). CEO Mark Karpelès i
Key evidence
WizSec blockchain forensics: losses began 2011, not 2014
Bitcoin developers: malleability explanation inadequate
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