As of late 2025, Mark Karpelès, the former CEO of Mt. Gox, has adopted a more subdued lifestyle in Japan, focusing on the development of a VPN and an AI automation platform. In his role as Chief Protocol Officer at vp.net—a VPN utilizing Intel’s SGX technology—Karpelès collaborates with notable figures such as Roger Ver and Andrew Lee, the founder of Private Internet Access. He asserts, “It’s the only VPN that you can trust. In fact, you don’t need to trust it; you can verify it.” Additionally, he is working on an unreleased AI agent system at shells.com, his personal cloud computing platform, designed to give artificial intelligence comprehensive control over a virtual machine, including tasks such as software installation and email management. Karpelès describes his initiative as providing AI with “a whole computer and free rein on the computer,” signaling an ambitious evolution in AI capability.
The contrast to his previous life is striking. Fifteen years earlier, Karpelès was at the helm of Bitcoin’s trading world, managing Mt. Gox during a period when it processed the majority of global Bitcoin transactions.
Karpelès’ journey into the Bitcoin space began in 2010 through his web hosting company, Tibanne, operating under the brand Kalyhost. He recounts receiving a request from a customer in Peru who faced challenges with international payments and inquired about using Bitcoin for his services. “I was probably one of the first companies to implement Bitcoin payments back in 2010,” he stated. Roger Ver, an early Bitcoin advocate, became a frequent visitor to Karpelès’ office, unwittingly hosting a domain linked to the Silk Road—silkroadmarket.org—on his servers. This connection would later incite inquiries, leading U.S. authorities to briefly suspect Karpelès of being Dread Pirate Roberts. Karpelès noted, “That was actually one of the main arguments for my investigation by U.S. law enforcement—they thought I was Dread Pirate Roberts.” Such associations complicated public perception and were even referenced during Ross Ulbricht’s trial, wherein Karpelès suggested Ulbricht’s defense attempted to cast doubt by linking him to the Silk Road marketplace.
In 2011, Karpelès purchased Mt. Gox from Jed McCaleb, who would go on to establish Ripple and Stellar. The transition was tumultuous from the outset, as Karpelès alleged, “Between the time I signed the contract and the time I got access to the server, 80,000 bitcoins were stolen… Jed was adamant that we couldn’t inform users about it.” While McCaleb faced no criminal liability related to the Mt. Gox incident, he has been part of the ongoing public discourse surrounding the case. For Karpelès, however, he inherited a platform rife with technical deficiencies.
Despite the challenges, Mt. Gox gained substantial traction, serving as a primary entry point for millions into the realm of Bitcoin. Karpelès instituted strict policies, prohibiting users associated with illicit activities such as drug purchases on Silk Road. “If you’re going to buy drugs with Bitcoin, in a country where drugs are illegal, you shouldn’t,” Karpelès explained.
The collapse of Mt. Gox in 2014 was precipitated by hacks linked to Alexander Vinnik and the BTC-e exchange, resulting in the loss of over 650,000 bitcoins. Vinnik subsequently pleaded guilty in the U.S. but was later transferred back to Russia without facing trial, further complicating matters. “It doesn’t feel like justice has been served,” remarked Karpelès, alluding to the political implications of Vinnik’s return. The stolen bitcoins remain unaccounted for.
The repercussions of the collapse were swift. Karpelès was arrested in August 2015 and endured eleven and a half months in Japanese custody—known for its strict and psychologically demanding detention system. While detainees, he was surrounded by a diverse array of inmates, including Yakuza members and fraudsters. During this time, he taught English and earned the moniker “Mr. Bitcoin” from fellow inmates who recognized him from newspaper headlines. One individual even attempted to recruit him, handing him a phone number for potential post-release contact, to which Karpelès humorously responded, “Of course I’m not going to be calling that.”
The psychological pressures faced during his detention were intense. Karpelès recounted the manipulative police tactics employed, stating that detainees were led to believe in their imminent release, only to be confronted with new warrants. He noted, “They really make you think that you’re free when, in fact, you’re not. That takes a significant toll on mental health.”
Transferred to the Tokyo Detention Center, conditions deteriorated further, as he found himself in solitary confinement for over six months alongside death row inmates. He recalled, “It’s still quite painful to spend more than six months in solitary confinement.” Denied letters or visits while claiming his innocence, Karpelès occupied his time by reading and penning narratives—“the stuff I wrote is really crappy. I wouldn’t show it to anyone,” he admitted when asked about the potential for publication. Armed with 20,000 pages of accounting records and a basic calculator procured for his case, Karpelès effectively dismantled embezzlement claims by revealing $5 million in unreported revenue from the exchange.
Ironically, his time in prison led to a significant improvement in his health. Chronic sleep deprivation during his vigorous Mt. Gox tenure was replaced by considerably improved sleep patterns. “Sleeping at night helps a lot… I was used to only sleeping two hours a night, which is a very bad habit,” Karpelès remarked. Upon his release, observers noted a physical transformation, describing him as “shredded,” a surprising shift for those familiar with his earlier condition in the Bitcoin community.
Upon his release on bail, Karpelès faced a legal culmination that saw him convicted solely on lesser charges of record falsification. The ambiguous connections to Silk Road complicated public perceptions, particularly during Ross Ulbricht’s trial, where defense strategies attempted to leverage Karpelès’ narrative for plausible deniability. As a result, he was often portrayed as embroiled in Bitcoin’s darker aspects, despite his proactive policies against such activities.
Emerging from the legal struggles in 2016, Karpelès was enveloped in rumors of substantial personal wealth derived from Mt. Gox’s remaining assets—once benchmarked at hundreds of millions or even billions due to Bitcoin’s surging prices. However, Karpelès maintains that he has received nothing, stating, “I prefer to use technology to solve problems… to simply receive a payout for something that essentially represents a failure would feel deeply wrong. Additionally, I am keen on ensuring that creditors receive as much compensation as possible.” Many creditors continue awaiting recovery, benefiting from Bitcoin’s appreciation in dollar terms.
Currently, Karpelès collaborates with Roger Ver, a former adversary turned business partner, who recently resolved U.S. tax obligations totaling nearly $50 million. “I’m happy for him that he’s finally getting things cleared,” Karpelès noted.
In modern discourse, Karpelès admits to owning no personal Bitcoin, although his businesses accept it as payment. He expresses concerns regarding the centralization risks presented by ETFs and notable figures such as Michael Saylor, stating, “This is a recipe for catastrophe. I believe in cryptocurrency as a mathematical concept, but I find it difficult to place trust in individuals.” On the topic of FTX, he remarked, “They were managing accounting on QuickBooks for a potentially multi-billion dollar company, which is astonishing.”
Karpelès’ narrative reflects a significant evolution within the cryptocurrency industry. From his pivotal role in the early days of Bitcoin, characterized by connections to illicit marketplaces and the catastrophic collapse of Mt. Gox, to his current endeavors in developing verifiable privacy technologies, Karpelès serves as an emblem of the sector’s maturation. His story exemplifies the initial surge of Bitcoin into mainstream culture, illustrating how his leadership as CEO positioned him at the epicenter of transformative change. Ultimately, his ongoing dedication to technological innovation embodies the qualities of engineers and entrepreneurs that were drawn to Bitcoin during its nascent phase.
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