It is surprising too see that despite all that happened #bitcoin exchanges are still holding customer coins, while it'd be possible not to... — Mark Karpeles (@MagicalTux) June 1, 2015

At the time, the total amount of missing bitcoin was worth nearly $500 million, although prices have dropped significantly since then. In an email, Karpeles told the WSJ the charges were false, and he would deny them. He has not been formally charged yet, and in Japan, one can be detained for up to 23 days before charges are filed. In blog posts since Mt. Gox shut down Karpeles has pledged to "continue fighting" to get the truth out about what happened, but at the moment, the authorities aren't buying it.

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