The Missing $50 Billion and Virtual Currency Crossroads: The Mount Gox Incident (2011-2014)
In 2014, approximately 850,000 bitcoins (worth about 50 billion yen at that time) suddenly disappeared from the Tokyo-based bitcoin exchange Mount Gox. The company, which was responsible for about 70% of the world's bitcoin transactions, failed to prevent the crisis due to several years of unauthorized transfers from outside parties, exploitation of a vulnerability in the system known as "transaction variability," and sloppy asset management.
The damage was done to users around the world, and the price of bitcoin fell sharply. The incident shook confidence in virtual currency itself, and the Japanese government amended the Funds Settlement Law to tighten regulations. The incident exposed the risks behind technological innovation and the fragility of the invisible foundation of trust.
Since then, bitcoin prices have risen, and the change from bankruptcy proceedings to civil rehabilitation proceedings has been approved, with repayments to victims beginning in 2023. The Mount Gox case remains a story of humanity at the crossroads of the dream and reality of virtual currency.
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