SCMP’s Bitcoin Daily Report: Mt Gox loses Bitcoin Foundation role
Mt Gox chief executive Mark Karpeles resigned on Sunday from the board of the Bitcoin Foundation, putting the spotlight back on the besieged bitcoin company.
In a statement posted on the industry lobby group’s website, executive director Jon Matonis said the Tokyo-based firm had submitted its resignation from the board of directors “effective immediately”.
He added: “We are grateful for their early and valuable contributions as a founding member in launching the Bitcoin Foundation.”
The Bitcoin Foundation will hold an election to fill the vacant position shortly.
As for Mt Gox, it has not yet released a statement or responded to media requests explaining why it stepped down from the board.
In an unusual twist, the trading platform also deleted all its tweets from its Twitter feed, adding to speculation that the company may be facing difficulties.
Mt Gox saw the price of a bitcoin plunge to just US$90 a coin, capping off a year to forget.
More than two weeks ago, Mt Gox triggered a run on bitcoin prices after it temporarily suspended bitcoin withdrawals, blaming flaws in the bitcoin network which it said allowed hackers to defraud exchanges.
At the time, global bitcoin prices plunged some 20 per cent on the news – and since then Mt Gox prices have continued to suffer, shedding almost all of its value.
Bitcoin prices on major exchanges Bitstamp and BTC-e are nearly four times more than those on Mt Gox.
While the Mt Gox saga continues to affect the bitcoin industry, the Foundation’s executive director Jon Matonis will make an appearance at the Mobile World Congress as a keynote speaker in Barcelona on Thursday to discuss innovation.
Bitcoin has captured the imagination of many, and the mobile industry will want to explore how it can take advantage of the virtual currency’s low-cost payment solutions.
Other keynote speakers include Facebook founder and chief executiveMark Zuckerberg.
All of the top mobile executives will be out in force to show off an array of upcoming gadgets and concepts at the world’s largest exhibition for the industry.
Latest bitcoin price: US$569.49 at 17.04 on Monday based on prices from BTC-e and Bitstamp
Source: Coindesk
