Mt. Gox was originally based in Tokyo, hence the trial venue location, and filed for bankruptcy protection there, citing a flaw in its security scheme that enabled someone to make off with 850,000 Bitcoin. However, Karpeles was in trouble with the law even before the theft. He's been indicted for a pair of fund transfers that took place in 2013: one that saw cash from a Mt. Gox customer be funneled into his personal account and another wherein an account in his name on the exchange had its balance mysteriously increased.

"I swear to God that I am innocent," he reportedly told the court. Prosecutors, however, allege that Karpeles spent the $2.7 million he supposedly stole on software licensing rights and a custom-made bed.