Mt. Gox Hack
The original crypto exchange hack. 850,000 Bitcoin stolen. The wound that never fully healed.
Date
2014-02-24
Impact
bearish
Mt. Gox was the world's largest Bitcoin exchange, handling over 70% of all Bitcoin transactions at its peak. In February 2014, the exchange halted withdrawals and revealed that approximately 850,000 Bitcoin (worth around $450 million at the time, and tens of billions at today's prices) had been stolen through a prolonged hack. Mt. Gox filed for bankruptcy. CEO Mark Karpeles became the face of the disaster. The hack traumatized an entire generation of early Bitcoin adopters and established the "not your keys, not your coins" ethos that defined crypto culture for a decade. Over 10 years later, creditors are still receiving partial repayments. Every major exchange hack since — from FTX to Bybit — carries echoes of Mt. Gox.