[joecool1029]

> Sure it would! It would serve as a deterrent. Some people shouldn't be handling hundreds of millions of USD.

I don't think Mark ever expected to handle that kind of money. It just sort of happened. One of the things usually needed to prove a crime was committed was that there was the intent to commit it.

> Startup culture can be great, but it's amazingly dangerous when operating certain trades or industries.

Mark's about the furthest thing from a startup bro. Honestly, I got the vibe he started MtGox as a hobby that happened to make money. A lot of it doesn't make sense from a business planning standpoint. Bet you didn't know the parent company of MtGox was named after his cat and served as a hosting company and domain registrar. He's a gentoo nerd that had a pet project win the lottery. There's far more to question about what the exchange had happen before he took it over, but I suppose jed won't talk about that.

To be fair though the year he spent in jail probably added some years to his life. While I doubt it was great for his mental health, it did wonders for getting his weight under control.

[ckastner]

> I don't think Mark ever expected to handle that kind of money. It just sort of happened.

That is probably true, and I wouldn't expect anyone to stand in the way of something that they had created and that developed such a momentum. How could one!

What I would expect, however, is (1) that person to recognize this momentum, (2) to recognize that this momentum is way above the person's head, and (3) to rent or hire the know-how necessary to deal with this.

IT Security consultants, legal experts, people with experience in running exchange systems, etc.

> One of the things usually needed to prove a crime was committed was that there was the intent to commit it.

There's no question of that, as the court found that he had tampered with accounts and manipulated records to hide losses.

[lovemenot]

I actually met Mark once, on the very day that it was reported here on HN that Mt. Gox had been breached. This was a couple of years before the melt-down.

I had read the story here and, having just a little experience of Financial systems (nowhere near enough) I offered to help.

Mark took my meeting on that day because, in retrospect, he was likely looking for a Hail Mary. Perhaps hoping for a ransom demand.

He was at least smart enough to know I wasn't it. Nevertheless, if there had been good options, as you seem to suppose, I very much doubt he'd have taken my meeting.

Mark was in over his head, even then. And that tsunami just kept on rolling in. I wish him well.

[wcoenen]

> Honestly, I got the vibe he started MtGox as a hobby that happened to make money.

Mtgox was started by Jed McCaleb. He essentially gave it away for free to Karpeles when he realized that he was in over his head. It seems he was already losing money running mtgox and just wanted to get rid of it.

https://hackernoon.com/mt-gox-interviews-jed-mccaleb-on-the-...

[mikeash]

You seem to be describing premeditation. Criminal intent just means that you didn’t do it by accident. Did Karpeles ever knowingly misstate Mt. Gox’s bitcoin holdings? That’s intent, even if he never meant to be responsible for so much money.

[s3xham]

Tux has really slimmed up for sure. Let's be honest and say Jed's the real Teflon Don MVP unloading the MtGox shitshow on Mark, doing the ripple thing, selling that chainless shitcoin to banks and rinsing and repeating again with Stellar.

-otc bro high-five