Mt. Gox CEO Steps Down From Bitcoin Foundation

Story by

Jon Russell

Jon Russell was Asia Editor for The Next Web from 2011 to 2014. Originally from the UK, he lives in Bangkok, Thailand. You can find him on T (show all) Jon Russell was Asia Editor for The Next Web from 2011 to 2014. Originally from the UK, he lives in Bangkok, Thailand. You can find him on Twitter, Angel List, LinkedIn.

Bitcoin is going through another significant dip after the CEO of Mt. Gox, a controversial Bitcoin currency exchange service, stepped down from the Bitcoin Foundation, the committee that oversees management of the virtual currency.

A blog post from the foundation — noted by CoinDesk — reveals that Mark Karpeles has resigned from his board seat, but doesn’t give a reason for his departure. The exit is likely due to ongoing technical issues that have hit Mt. Gox particular hard over the past month — during which time it completely froze withdrawals, sending prices on the exchange crashing as customers worried about the future of Bitcoins stored in Mt. Gox.

Regardless of the specifics of his exit, Karpeles’ resignation appears to have increased concern among Mt. Gox users. Prices on the exchange — which are lower than others due to a range of user concerns — had actually jumped this weekend, but dropped again during morning time in Asia following the news.