Former Mt. Gox CEO to launch crypto ratings agency and commemorative NFTs

Mark Karpeles, a co-founder and ex-CEO of now-defunct cryptocurrency speech Mt. Gox, announced his plans to commencement a caller crypto ratings agency, dubbed UNGOX, during an interrogation with Forkast today.

“After the Mt. Gox bankruptcy, I person been pursuing the developments successful the crypto space, and I person seen immoderate exchanges taking steps to forestall a 2nd Mt. Gox. For instance, by implementing transparency reports,” Karpeles explained. “Despite this, the inclination died down precise rapidly and today’s concern for galore exchanges is precise akin to what led to Mt. Gox’s bankruptcy.”

Hack of legends

Mt. Gox was 1 of the first—and the largest—Bitcoin (BTC) exchanges successful the world. Launched successful Tokyo successful July 2010, it accounted for astir 70% of all BTC transactions astatine immoderate point. In February 2014, however, the level filed for bankruptcy aft it was discovered that Mt. Gox had been hacked and mislaid astir 850,000 BTC (200,000 of which were aboriginal recovered by Karpeles).

Following the incident, Karpeles was arrested by the Japanese authorities 3 times and spent several years successful prison—until helium was yet recovered guiltless of large charges successful 2019. Having this somewhat unsocial acquisition and perspective, Karpeles decided to commencement a caller work that would assistance different exchanges and crypto-related firms to debar Mt. Gox’s fate—appropriately naming it UNGOX.

“Following Mt. Gox’s bankruptcy, goxed (sometimes written goxxed) has go a synonym of losing cryptocurrencies owed to faulty Bitcoin speech oregon wallet that screwed up,” Karpeles noted. “There are galore things that tin beryllium seen with the close cognition and experience, but astir radical bash not look intimately capable oregon deficiency the acquisition to admit reddish flags.”

‘Ungoxxing’ the future

As such, UNGOX volition absorption connected establishing a ratings strategy for crypto exchanges and different related services and probe them successful respective cardinal areas, including technology, transparency, people, and ineligible context.

Apart from these checks—which tin beryllium executed from outside—the caller bureau volition besides beryllium reaching retired to exchanges straight truthful that they tin voluntarily supply immoderate further information.

“We volition besides beryllium asking for practice and confirming accounting information, management, and procedure,” added Karpeles. “If a institution cooperates, it volition let america to much accurately people them based connected the accusation they provide, specified arsenic information policies.”

UNGOX is presently slated for motorboat successful Q3 2022. In summation to freely disposable data, specified arsenic wide scores for each entity, the bureau volition besides connection a paid subscription work with much elaborate information, progressive alerts, afloat past reports, and truthful on.

Former Mt. Gox customers, however, volition beryllium capable to get afloat entree to UNGOX’s level for free—thanks to unsocial commemorative non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

Proof-of-OG

As portion of this “ungoxxing,” Karpeles volition mint Ethereum-based “MtGOX NFTs” for each idiosyncratic who registered connected the level betwixt its motorboat successful 2010 and its closure successful February 2014.

“Upon MtGox’s creation, each idiosyncratic had a unsocial lawsuit number, starting with 1 (Jed McCaleb’s account, who founded MtGox, and whose relationship is dated July 17th 2010) and going arsenic precocious arsenic 1066097. The past relationship created connected MtGox was created astatine 1:14 AM UTC connected February 25th, 2014,” the Mt. Gox NFTs website explained. “MtGox’s NFT is an ERC-721 compliant NFT with a fig of other features intended to screen circumstantial usage cases.”

You tin assertion your @MtGox NFT connected https://t.co/uUVPsXtCYC if you were a MtGox lawsuit betwixt 2010 and 2014. The NFT is airdropped for free, and disposable nary substance if you had a equilibrium oregon filed a assertion with the bankruptcy.

— Mark Karpelès (@MagicalTux) March 28, 2022

To get their commemorative NFTs, users volition person to implicit “a verification process to guarantee they are so Mt. Gox customers who are registering” and hold “a mates of weeks successful bid to corroborate nary different assertion exists for the aforesaid relationship number.”

“Ownership of a MtGox crypto token is besides impervious of idiosyncratic being an aboriginal Bitcoin adopter, but besides impervious of having lived and survived 1 of the astir covered Bitcoin-related disasters,” the FAQ continued. “Owning a MtGox NFT proves you’re OG. You were determination successful the aboriginal days of Bitcoin, and present you tin beryllium it connected the blockchain.”

Apart from bragging rights, Mt. Gox NFTs holders volition besides get entree to immoderate “member-only areas” and a imaginable DAO governance strategy portion it is besides “possible to leverage this successful the aboriginal successful ways that aren’t known yet,” the FAQ concluded.

As CryptoSlate reported, the existent trustee of Mt. Gox, Nobuaki Kobayashi, announced that creditors person agreed to a multibillion redistribution package past November. 

Karpeles besides touched connected this taxable during the latest interview, noting that the remaining $7 cardinal worthy of BTC (since Kobayashi sold astir 24,658 Bitcoin and 25,331 Bitcoin Cash betwixt 2017 and 2018) “are owed to beryllium distributed anytime now.”