MUST WATCH: Account Holder Flies To Japan And Confronts MtGox CEO

[Arksun]

It was my impression that the guy on YT video was there for the lulz to say the least. Would you really invite a guy with a camera that would later show that your business treats the customers in an unfair way (those loud ones with camera get money first)?

No-one spends that kind of money flying half way around the world for 'lulz'. To answer your question, yes, I personally in that situation would have invited him in, I may have said to him that I was happy to talk to him off-camera, but I still would have let him in and had a chat at a table for a few minutes.

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[BitCoinNutJob]

somebody go over there & handcuff yourself to mark karpeles, give the key to your friend & say you dont get the key until i get my bitcoins.


if you guys want to fund me i will fly over there and do it

[prophette]

My Views on MtGox’s Bitcoin Withdraw Pause


After long-time observation on the Bitcoin exchange MtGox, I think Bitcoin withdraw pause this time is probably a thorough conspiracy.

As a grand-old Bitcoin exchange, is it possible for MtGox to ignore a flaw that had been detected in 2011? And this flaw may cause big loss to the exchange itself! Did MtGox have no cautious attention on this matter or just have no knowledge on this “transaction malleability” flaw? Don’t forget MtGox always boasts that it is the gold member of Bitcoin Foundation and has good cooperation with Bitcoin core developers.

So I have below hypothesis:

1) MtGox has deliberately made itself an in-yes, out-difficult barrier lake of fiat currency(except Japanese Yen) by the excuse that its bank account had been investigated in May 2013. Therefore, the price of Bitcoin in MtGox has high premium on other exchanges.

2) Exploiting its reputation and advantage, MtGox made those new comers and conservative guys keep having confidence in it and trade Bitcoin in it. Therefore, its premium can be maintained.

3) Mtgox arbitraged by Yen using its Japanese domestic bank account(MtGox did this arbitrage craftily that it didn’t arbitrage in a huge amount every time so that the market cannot perceive it)

4) Earning enough profit from arbitrage, MtGox suspended Bitcoin withdraw by issuing a statement of suffering from the long-been-known flaw “Transaction Malleability”. It seems that MtGox becomes a victim of this flaw… The Bitcoin withdraw pause and everybody’s knowledge of the flaw led to a huge plunge of the price.

5) When the price was going to the bottom, MtGox began to buy Bitcoin(Again, MtGox did this buying craftily that it didn’t buy in a huge amount every time so that the price wouldn’t rebound dramatically to cause suspicion from others)

That’s it. MtGox made a lot of profit. And, it also “successfully” made a gesture of supporting AML to governments(refer to non-Yen fiat money withdraw difficulty) and a gesture of attaching great importance to transaction safety to traders(refer to Bitcoin withdraw pause). What a cunning fox!

In fact, there are 2 basic doubtful points from the very beginning:

1) Since the withdraw of non-Yen fiat currency to e-wallets(OKPAY, etc.) is suspended, why the deposit from these e-wallets is still available? If MtGox indeed has some trouble in AML or illegal activities investigation, the deposit should be unavailable as well as withdraw!

2) If MtGox is innocent and clear, it should make effort in effecting non-Yen fiat currencies’ withdraw through bank wire transfer, and publish statement of the quantity of unprocessed withdraws as well as future processing schedule on homepage. But, MtGox does nothing other than giving a vague period of 4 to 6 weeks. This move is to block fiat currencies’ withdraw and make the exchange a barrier lake.

As above, I call for independent investigation on MtGox immediately!


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[BitCoinNutJob]

who is going to do the independent investigation ?

[joehal]

apologies to casascius_throwaway over at reddit r/bitcoin who created the first photoshopped edit

I think it is admirable that the CEO has taken up the local tradition of Sumo wrestling.

[fran2k]

mtgox 1btc = $360
coinbase 1btc = $650

Spread is now ~45%. Those assholes at mtgox have a license to print money: buy their own cheap btc from panic sellers, don't allow anyone else to transfer out but themselves, sell on another exchange like coinbase for an instant 100% gain, rinse, and repeat. Maybe that's the plan all along, criminals...

This. Somehow someone hacked MtGox. They did this to rebuy the stolen BTC cheap.

[adam9317]

mtgox 1btc = $360
coinbase 1btc = $650

Spread is now ~45%. Those assholes at mtgox have a license to print money: buy their own cheap btc from panic sellers, don't allow anyone else to transfer out but themselves, sell on another exchange like coinbase for an instant 100% gain, rinse, and repeat. Maybe that's the plan all along, criminals...

This could be the answer mate! I wouldn't be at all surprised!

[BitCoinNutJob]

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=469428.0

lets start organizing legal action

[iikun]

Good guy, why aren't more Japaneese people protesting this? They must be as outraged as this guy? Fucking asshole CEO.

because (strangely) bitcoin isn't a big thing here. Even staff at Akihabara pc parts stores give me their dead, blank face when I mention mining.

Incidentally, not knowing Gox's ph number, I called their parent company once, Tibanne, and the girl who answered there sounded exactly like Mark looked in that video. Equally helpful as well & I wasn't even calling to abuse them.

[iikun]

Kolin's approach was antagonistic. Intentionally moving to block the employee as he tries to get inside. If that was me, I'd have punched the Kolin upside the head.

There were other ways to accomplish this and have people be more 'receptive' to speaking to you.

I disagree. He asked Mark some point blank questions and literaly got no answer. He did not yell nor antagonize. Just asked.

Mark looked like he didnt want to talk AT ALL.

The Reddit spoke with Mark, though I admit it was after a great deal of waiting around & putting up with their other staff. By all accounts their staff were quite nice to him as well. Perhaps Mark saw this 2nd guy as the start of a trend & decided to change tactics to prevent more people from doing the same.

[BitCoinNutJob]

Kolin's approach was antagonistic. Intentionally moving to block the employee as he tries to get inside. If that was me, I'd have punched the Kolin upside the head.

There were other ways to accomplish this and have people be more 'receptive' to speaking to you.

I disagree. He asked Mark some point blank questions and literaly got no answer. He did not yell nor antagonize. Just asked.

Mark looked like he didnt want to talk AT ALL.

The Reddit spoke with Mark, though I admit it was after a great deal of waiting around & putting up with their other staff. By all accounts their staff were quite nice to him as well. Perhaps Mark saw this 2nd guy as the start of a trend & decided to change tactics to prevent more people from doing the same.

was that not the reddit guy?  i think it might have been & they took a while to upload vid?

[iikun]

Kolin's approach was antagonistic. Intentionally moving to block the employee as he tries to get inside. If that was me, I'd have punched the Kolin upside the head.

There were other ways to accomplish this and have people be more 'receptive' to speaking to you.

I disagree. He asked Mark some point blank questions and literaly got no answer. He did not yell nor antagonize. Just asked.

Mark looked like he didnt want to talk AT ALL.

The Reddit spoke with Mark, though I admit it was after a great deal of waiting around & putting up with their other staff. By all accounts their staff were quite nice to him as well. Perhaps Mark saw this 2nd guy as the start of a trend & decided to change tactics to prevent more people from doing the same.

was that not the reddit guy?  i think it might have been & they took a while to upload vid?

I heard the reddit guy flew from australia but this guy in the video is from the UK. I think they're 2 different people.

[BitCoinNutJob]

Kolin's approach was antagonistic. Intentionally moving to block the employee as he tries to get inside. If that was me, I'd have punched the Kolin upside the head.

There were other ways to accomplish this and have people be more 'receptive' to speaking to you.

I disagree. He asked Mark some point blank questions and literaly got no answer. He did not yell nor antagonize. Just asked.

Mark looked like he didnt want to talk AT ALL.

The Reddit spoke with Mark, though I admit it was after a great deal of waiting around & putting up with their other staff. By all accounts their staff were quite nice to him as well. Perhaps Mark saw this 2nd guy as the start of a trend & decided to change tactics to prevent more people from doing the same.

was that not the reddit guy?  i think it might have been & they took a while to upload vid?

I heard the reddit guy flew from australia but this guy in the video is from the UK. I think they're 2 different people.

ok excellent, send more troops over

[TheFootMan]

Whatever is wrong with him I think its pretty clear he shouldn't be a CEO.

Criricizing is cheap and easy.

This is true, but every level of gox has had issues in as long as I can remember. Withdrawals taking months, setting dates for implementing new features / trade engine and missing them over and over again. Generally unable to communicate with there customers. Money seized. Taking 3 times longer than every other exchange to fix the same issue. It seems there is problems at all parts of gox surely the CEO has to have some say in all these issues and he can't even handle one customer outside his office that wants to have a conversation about his money in a decent way instead just tries to ignore him.

This about sums it up. It's not hate. It's not unjust criticism. It's not like Gox customers, business customers (who actually rely on access to their funds...) and other actors in the bitcoin ecosystem are voicing their opinion because they just want to cause mayhem. It's because they're not satisfied with the current situation. Some people are perhaps more well mannered and never criticize others publicly and does not (god forbid) make snide remarks semi-anonymously on a forum.

And in all fairness, talk is cheap, but I know of a lot of other persons that could've handled the running of MtGox in a better way. If we really think of it in an intelligent way, reality is that MtGox is receiving all the heat, because they're not handling their business well. Sure thing, nobody said it is easy to run MtGox, but they constantly fail on so many levels, and they've had so many opportunities to improve, and they've not grasped these opportunities.

But it is the free market at play, once there are viable alternatives that offers good services, run by professionals - Gox's time as a leading exchange is over.

[TheFootMan]

This is true, but every level of gox has had issues in as long as I can remember. Withdrawals taking months, setting dates for implementing new features / trade engine and missing them over and over again. Generally unable to communicate with there customers. Money seized. Taking 3 times longer than every other exchange to fix the same issue. It seems there is problems at all parts of gox surely the CEO has to have some say in all these issues and he can't even handle one customer outside his office that wants to have a conversation about his money in a decent way instead just tries to ignore him.

I agree with you on lot of the above (withdrawals, shitty engine, poor communication, etc.) with two exceptions:

- money was not seized, but stolen (by mafia called US gov) - an individual (Mark) can do very little when attacked by bureaucrats; it is my understanding that he is repaying the damage out of his personal / business pocket to those who were affected
- he was not handling a customer, but he handled a stalker / jocker - he did it nicely and politely.

While it's nice to point to the US Govt for being a mafia. One could even point to any govt. and claiming it is a mafia. In the sense that a Mafia makes the rules and punish everybody that does not adhere to their rules.

In the real world however, we live in various countries which has laws, restrictions and so on. Failure to follow such legislations have their risks, and esp. when it comes to money, the govts aka mafias, are very sensitive to people not following their rules.

A professional business owner and CEO of a bitcoin company, would anticipate this, and hire appropriate professional legal advisors that would sort this out, and ensure that compliance is present. Failure to be compliant means that it is only a matter of time before you get shut down. That's the reality in the world we live in. Mark, when signing the papers on behalf of Mutum Sigilium LLC when setting up a bank account, he claimed that the account would not be used for money transmitting purposes. He clearly knew that he would get into trouble or at least everything would be more delayed if he said he was a 'money transmitter'. He probably figured that Mutum Sigilium LLC would not be a transmitter of money, but merely holding funds. But this does not hold up in the real world, where failure to comply with the law sets you up for a lot of problems, in this case zeisure of the assets. Some people would call it outright theft, but it is law, and it was done by the US Govt, and that's what you have to deal with.

So, the reason the money was seized is because Mark did not do his job well, so he's got himself to blame. Clearly anybody competent running a bitcoin exchange would be aware that such issues could arise, and would be proactive, and not running after the horse after it escaped from the stable. And of course he has to reinstate customers funds. He fucked up, and then he needs to answer to that. This is not a place of rainbows and unicorns, but a place where failing to adhere to the law have consequences.

And the person that came to see him outside his office was not a stalker, it was a customer. Customers it what makes MtGox make money, so they should respect their customers. When a single customer comes to their offices like this, he does it because there's something that he's not satisfied with, and then he should be respected and listened to for a couple of minutes. Perhaps it is ethically wrong to help this customer first (those who scream the loudest get help first), but realizing that there's something at play her, and that real people have real reactions,and then adjusting your business accordingly, is the way to handle it. However, Mark has time and time again shown that he's unable to take critisism and turn it into something positive that could benefit both his company and his customer base. I don't think many people are interested in only arguing and not doing anything productuve, but the anger is warranted and justified. It's just like the laws in America, in real life, fucking up has its consequences, no matter if you feel that's justified or not.

What people are interested in is to withdraw and deposit fiat money and bitcoins, and do their trading, that's it. That's the core of MtGox business model, and clearly the business is so profitable that both large investors and professionals in certain fields would see an opportunity and challenge in working there.

Mark was delivered a golden goose, but he's slowly killing it. And the free market just reacts. And this might  be very healthy, as it decentralizes the bitcoin trade more.

[TheFootMan]

Kolin's approach was antagonistic. Intentionally moving to block the employee as he tries to get inside. If that was me, I'd have punched the Kolin upside the head.

So, if you ran a multi-million dollar business, as a CEO, then you fucked up and it was not the first time you fucked up, and people really started to get tired of you shit, and someone came to you, and in a non-violent way wanted to get your attention, you would deliberately punch them in the face because they stepped in front of you?

Is that your personal viewpoint, because your personal well-being and peace is more important than running a business, or is that your personal opinion as a professional business individual?

How would you've handled it in a way that got Mark's attention? Quite obviously even if the protester danced in a pink rabbit suit and brought along a couple of sexy blondes, do you think that would've made any difference to Mark's willingness to talk to that bloke?

Mark's attitude clearly shows that he didn't like to be bothered. And who likes to be bothered. It was probably early in the day, he didn't quite feel ok, maybe he didn't sleep quite well, and he would rather be inside and consume his dessert frappucino while wipping up his editor so he could continue working on the bugs. But that's unprofessional, and it's the continued lack of being professional that's caused all the problems.

Your personal gut reaction does not equal a professional reaction.

There were other ways to accomplish this and have people be more 'receptive' to speaking to you.

Please educate us. I'm very happy that I were not there, I would probably be so angry about Mark's lack of answering that they would have to call the police to resolve the situation. Luckily I don't have anything at stake.

[BitShopper]

This guy is an absolute legend for this, crazy props to you for going out there and standing in the cold.

[Lauda]

Sadly he's most likely not going to get his coins.

[miragecash]

Man, what a Jackarse Karpeles is, this Brit flew all the way from LONDON. The least you could do is invite him inside and have a couple words with him to tell him what your plan is to fix the situation. 5 minutes of conversation for a guy who flew across the planet is just human decency.

[LiteCoinGuy]

Man, what a Jackarse Karpeles is, this Brit flew all the way from LONDON. The least you could do is invite him inside and have a couple words with him to tell him what your plan is to fix the situation. 5 minutes of conversation for a guy who flew across the planet is just human decency.

that would be to professional