Japan is known as a land of contrasts. A country where serenity and tranquillity can be found in the middle of the hustle and bustle of large global cities, where proud traditionalism stands side-by-side with the developers and innovators of breakthrough technologies, where kimonos are often found next to the latest fashion trends. This contradictory tendency is no different in Japan’s cryptocurrency ecosystem. It ranks as one of the top crypto-friendly nations on Earth, with favorable and forward-thinking cryptocurrency regulations. They made Bitcoin legal tender in 2017, and at one point, the Japanese yen dominated the buying and trading of …

Mark Karpeles — the former CEO of now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange Mt. Gox — has affirmed that he is not guilty in the final argument for his trial, Cointelegraph Japan reports Dec. 27. In court in Tokyo on Thursday, Karpeles apologized for not being able to avoid his exchange being hacked, but also reiterated the idea that he is innocent. As Cointelegraph Japan reported, in July, he declared that he treated the subtracted money “as a loan from the company,” and that he was going to settle later. Mark Karpeles has been charged with embezzlement of approximately 340 million yen (about …

Top Stories This Week CEO of Defunct Mt. Gox Exchanges Faces 10 Year Jail Sentence Over Embezzlement Mark Karpeles, the former CEO of now-defunct Japanese Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox, could be facing a 10-year jail sentence over charges of embezzlement. Karpeles, who headed the exchange during the major hack in 2014 that resulted in the loss of 850,000 BTC ($2.87 billion at press time), has denied any wrongdoing. Prosecutors in a Tokyo court this week have claimed that Karpeles had stolen around $3 million worth of funds from the exchange, in a case not connected to the hack. Only Two …

The former CEO of defunct Japanese Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox, Mark Karpeles, could spend ten years in jail over alleged embezzlement, Japanese daily news outlet Nikkei reported Dec. 12. Karpeles, who presided over the major hack of Mt. Gox in 2014 that resulted in the loss of 850,000 BTC ($2.87 billion), has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. In a Tokyo court on Wednesday, prosecutors read out an indictment against the embattled executive, who is currently confined to Japan as a condition of his bail, claiming he stole funds worth 340 million yen ($3 million). The prosecution has asked for a ten-year …

Nobuaki Kobayashi, trustee of the now-defunct Bitcoin (BTC) exchange Mt.Gox, is making efforts to extend the deadline for filing civil rehabilitation claims, according to an official announcement Nov. 22. While the official deadline for the filings was given as October 22, for both individual and corporate users, today’s announcement indicates that: “[I]f filings are delayed for reasons not attributable to creditors, proofs of rehabilitation claims filed after the deadline [...] may be acceptable. Whether [these] will be accepted is determined by the court [...] the Rehabilitation Trustee will make efforts to request the court to accept proofs of rehabilitation claims …

Japan is one of the key countries in the crypto financial world, where the headquarter of Bitcoin.com is situated, the crypto exchange Mt. Gox was established, the Bitcoin’s creator Satoshi Nakamoto name comes from, and cryptocurrencies in general are legalized. But, what do we really know about the growing industry of cryptocurrencies in the Land of the Rising Sun? What and where can be bought in Japan with crypto? What is the attitude of the authorities towards digital assets after adoption of the regulatory legislation? Recent changes in the structure of Japanese state apparatus, as an appointment of a prominent …

October 31 marks the ten year anniversary of the release of the Bitcoin white paper, which was authored by Satoshi Nakamoto, and whose identity still remains a mystery. In this relatively short period of time, Bitcoin has challenged the way modern society looks at global finance and banking, and has been the catalyst for the birth of over a thousand different cryptocurrencies as well as many more blockchain projects. Its history has been full of highs and lows, as the volatile cryptocurrency has battled through years fraught with controversy and success. With the release of the white paper, a movement …

The evolution of key industries have been historically driven by groundbreaking technological innovations that leave an indelible mark on society. The printing press led to the scientific revolution, the discovery of electricity brought light to the world, radio waves changed the way information was delivered to the masses, and the internet completely overhauled the way we communicate and interact with information. In the same vein, over the short space of a decade, Bitcoin has had a similarly disruptive and innovative effect on the financial world and the technology underpinning cryptocurrency has gone on to influence a number of sectors in …

Coming every Sunday, the Hodler’s Digest will help you to track every single important news story that happened this week. The best (and worst) quotes, adoption and regulation highlights, leading coins, predictions, and much more — a week on Cointelegraph in one link. Top Stories This Week Google Reverses Crypto Ad Ban, Allows Crypto Exchanges In Japan, US To Advertise The U.S. tech giant Google is set to update its ad policy in October, re-allowing registered cryptocurrency exchanges located in the U.S. and Japan to advertise. According to the official announcement, starting in October, Google will allow registered cryptocurrency exchanges …

Now-defunct Japanese Bitcoin (BTC) exchange Mt. Gox has extended its online rehabilitation claim filing system to corporate users, according to an official announcement posted on the exchange’s site today, September 12. Today’s announcement follows upon an online system for individual (non-corporate) users that was released August 23, allowing them to file proofs of bankruptcy claims. The deadline for filing the rehabilitation claims is October 22, 2018, and the claims can also alternatively be filed offline. The announcement has been signed by Tokyo attorney Nobuaki Kobayashi, who has been appointed to act as civil rehabilitation trustee to manage Mt. Gox’s bankruptcy …

The story of the infamous cryptocurrency exchange Mt. Gox seems to be taking a twist that could bring a relatively happy resolution to one of the most dramatic episodes in the short history of digital money. As the gates are now open for the Japan-based exchange’s creditors to file rehabilitation claims, chances are that most of the roughly 24,000 bereft patrons will eventually get their funds back and even see some returns on their involuntary, four-year long investment. The development came along thanks to a group of Mt. Gox creditors successfully mounting an effort to pull the exchange out of …

The founder of now-defunct Bitcoin (BTC) exchange Mt. Gox Mark Karpeles has filed a motion to dismiss a legal case filed against him in Illinois, according to a report by Financefeeds August 25. The class action in question was originally filed in Illinois by Gregory Greene and Anthony Motto, two former clients of Mt. Gox who sought to hold Karpeles responsible for the money they have lost in the exchange’s collapse and bankruptcy back in 2014. Law 360 website reports that the plaintiffs accused the defendant of criminal conversion, negligence and fraud. The plaintiffs alleged that Mizuho Bank, Ltd., which …