I am aware of various allegations that have been made, following letters sent by my lawyers on 12 June 2020, that the bitcoin in the 1Feex address was stolen from Mt Gox in March 2011. I would point out in this regard that:
• I agreed to purchase the bitcoin in the 1Feex address in late February 2011 and it was transferred into that address on 1 March that year. The full amount of the Bitcoin, which is now owned by Tulip Trading Limited, remains in that address today;
• The only evidence of the allegation regarding the origin of 1Feex bitcoin of which I am aware is a purported Skype chat between Mark Karpeles and Jed McCaleb, but that document is only a text file rather than a validated Skype log. No other evidence or any credible evidence, such as internal / accounting records from Mt Gox, has been put forward. In addition, the hack on Mt Gox is said to have been carried out by way of transaction malleability whereas in fact malleability does not allow an attacker to steal bitcoin from an exchange;
• Mark Karpeles who appears to be behind the allegations and the alleged Skype document was charged with various crimes including embezzlement by the Japanese authorities and convicted of falsifying / manipulating company records;
• There has not, as far as I am aware, been any report to the police or any police or other regulatory investigation in relation to the allegations regarding the 1Feex bitcoin between March 2011 and the Mt Gox insolvency three years’ later, nor did Mt Gox make any attempt to recover that bitcoin during that period (despite the fact that, if the alleged Skype document were true, Mr Karpeles would have known where the bitcoin was held);
• The liquidators of Mt Gox have not at any time during the six year period since the Mt Gox insolvency asserted that the 1Feex bitcoin belongs to Mt Gox or made any attempt to recover the bitcoin. This would be highly surprising if the bitcoin was stolen from Mt Gox given the value of the bitcoin in the address; and
• It has been public knowledge for some time, at least since February 2018, that I (or more accurately a company connected with me) asserts to be the owner of the bitcoin in the 1Feex address, yet no-one has approached me claiming to own that bitcoin.
If anyone, including the liquidators of Mt Gox, wishes to assert ownership over the bitcoin in the 1Feex address then they should come forward and the identity of the rightful owner to the bitcoin can be determined by the appropriate judicial authorities. Anyone with such a claim should contact my English lawyers, SCA ONTIER LLP.
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