Kim Nilsson on His Investigation Into Mt. Gox

Interview location: Skype
Interview date: Wednesday 20th Feb, 2019
Company: WizSec
Role: Chief Engineer

Mark Karpeles has had many accusations thrown at his since the collapse of Mt. Gox, including being the architect of the theft himself. Many people were angry with him at the time, and many still are, but as more information surfaces about the history of the exchange, a different picture has emerged.

Indeed, Mark made mistakes which cost users of the website hundreds of millions of dollars but is everything attributable to him. Kim Nilsson’s investigation into the chain of events surrounding the collapse of Mt. Gox highlights that Mark likely inherited an insolvent exchange and was unable to cope with the challenges of a rapidly expanding business under constant attack.

In this interview, I talk to Kim about his report, his opinions on the numerous hacks during the history of Mt. Gox and his views on Mark, Jed McCaleb, Brock Pierce and Peter Vessenes.

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Timestamps:

00:03:25: Introductions
00:04:02: How did Kim become involved with Mt. Gox
00:05:39: Kim’s relationship and experiences with Mark Karpeles
00:08:01: The foundations of the WizSec report
00:09:29: Kim’s view on Jed McCaleb and Mark Karpeles
00:17:58: The timeline in creating the WizSec report
00:22:22: The liberty reserve hack of Mt. Gox
00:23:32: The theft of 80,000 Bitcoins during the handover period of Mt. Gox
00:26:34: Willy Bot
00:28:02: The theft of 300,000 Bitcoins from the unsecure private network drive at Mt. Gox
00:31:00: How hackers gained access to Jed McCaleb’s admin account
00:37:05: The theft of 77,500 Bitcoins from the database compromise from Mt. Gox
00:38:29: The main hack of 630,000 Bitcoins from Mt. Gox
00:42:38: Alexander Vinnik’s involvement with the hacks at Mt. Gox
00:49:18: What were the most fundamental mistakes made, that led to the hacks at Mt. Gox?
00:51:18: Kim’s thoughts on Coinlab’s lawsuit that is delaying the civil rehabilitation process
00:55:08: Brock Pierce and his potential incentives surrounding Gox Rising
01:03:24: Reflecting on Mt. Gox, 5 years after the main hack
01:04:10: Final comments and the future for Kim
01:05:11: How to keep in touch with Kim

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Helpful Links:

Connect with Kim:
- On Twitter @nikuhodai
- On LinkedIn
- At WizSec

The report:
- Hard copy
- Kim presenting

Mentioned in the interview:
- Mt. Gox
- Mt. Gox Wikipedia page
- The History of the Mt Gox Hack: Bitcoin’s Biggest Heist
- Mark’s Reddit AMA
- Brock Pierce plan
- Gox Rising
- Coinlab claim
- Civil rehabilitation
- Willybot

Other relevant WBD podcasts:
- WBD077: Daniel Kelman on the Creditors of Mt. Gox and Civil Rehabilitation
- WBD076: Mark Karpelès on the Collapse of Mt. Gox
- WBD075: Jed McCaleb on the Creation of Mt. Gox
- WBD058: Trace Mayer on Why You Must Own Your Bitcoin Private Keys

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