Mt. Gox Coins Destroyed

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Mt. Gox

Mt. Gox originally had a glitch where some bitcoins were sent to invalid addresses, effectively burning them. This loss was not passed on to customers.

This exchange or platform is based in Japan, or the incident targeted people primarily in Japan.

About Mt. Gox

"Mt.Gox is the world's most established Bitcoin exchange. You can quickly and securely trade bitcoins with other people around the world with your local currency!" "It allows you to trade US Dollars (USD) for Bitcoins (BTC) or Bitcoins for US Dollars with other Mt Gox users. You set the price you want to buy or sell your BTC for." "Buy Bitcoins at market rates with your credit card or many other payment methods." "Automate your trading with our Trading API" "Dark pools allow you to trade large quantities without moving the market."

"4 Easy Steps: 1. Make an Account. 2. Add some funds. 3. Buy or Sell Bitcoins. 4. Withdraw your converted funds." "Fully automated, always available, 24 hours a day, Safe and Easy."

"Mt.Gox is protected by Prolexic and certified by VeriSign, which means all communications with our servers are encrypted with SSL technology." "We're always on. Buy and sell Bitcoin 24/7/365 with the world's most sophisticated trading platform." "Buying and selling Bitcoin doesn't have to be complicated! Get trading in a few simple steps." "The only multi-currency Bitcoin trading platform where you can trade with the entire world in your local currency."

"October 28, 2011, about two dozen transactions appeared in the block chain (Block 150951) that sent a total of 2,609 BTC to invalid addresses. As no private key could ever be assigned to them, these bitcoins were effectively lost." "Exactly 2609.36304319"

“Mt. Gox fully reimbursed customers after this incident.” "Mt. Gox did not pass the impacts of this incident on to customers."

This exchange or platform is based in Japan, or the incident targeted people primarily in Japan.

The background of the exchange platform, service, or individuals involved, as it would have been seen or understood at the time of the events.

Include:

Known history of when and how the service was started.
What problems does the company or service claim to solve?
What marketing materials were used by the firm or business?
Audits performed, and excerpts that may have been included.
Business registration documents shown (fake or legitimate).
How were people recruited to participate?
Public warnings and announcements prior to the event.

Don't Include:

Any wording which directly states or implies that the business is/was illegitimate, or that a vulnerability existed.
Anything that wasn't reasonably knowable at the time of the event.

There could be more than one section here. If the same platform is involved with multiple incidents, then it can be linked to a main article page.

The Reality

This sections is included if a case involved deception or information that was unknown at the time. Examples include:

When the service was actually started (if different than the "official story").
Who actually ran a service and their own personal history.
How the service was structured behind the scenes. (For example, there was no "trading bot".)
Details of what audits reported and how vulnerabilities were missed during auditing.

What Happened

The specific events of the loss and how it came about. What actually happened to cause the loss and some of the events leading up to it.

Key Event Timeline - Mt. Gox Coins Destroyed
Date	Event	Description
October 28th, 2011 12:00:00 AM	First Event	This is an expanded description of what happened and the impact. If multiple lines are necessary, add them here.

Total Amount Lost

$8 000 USD How much was lost and how was it calculated? If there are conflicting reports, which are accurate and where does the discrepancy lie?

Immediate Reactions

How did the various parties involved (firm, platform, management, and/or affected individual(s)) deal with the events? Were services shut down? Were announcements made? Were groups formed?

Ultimate Outcome

What was the end result? Was any investigation done? Were any individuals prosecuted? Was there a lawsuit? Was any tracing done?

Total Amount Recovered

$0 USD What funds were recovered? What funds were reimbursed for those affected users?

Ongoing Developments

What parts of this case are still remaining to be concluded?

Prevention Policies

There were no losses to customers in this case. The use of multi-signature wallets allows each key holder to check the outgoing transaction for validity. All systems would be checked over by two reviewers prior to launch, and only a small minority of funds would be in hot wallets. In the event that these measures fail to prevent loss, an industry insurance fund would be available to cover it.