What to know:
- Kolin Burges, who protested outside Mt. Gox’s Tokyo office in February 2014 over his missing bitcoin, is auctioning his iconic sign on Scare.City.
- The auction starts Friday with a reserve price of 4.5 BTC and ends April 3.
- Burges had flown from London after what was then the world’s largest bitcoin exchange froze withdrawals, gaining international media attention.
- Mt. Gox filed for bankruptcy days later.
On a cold February morning in 2014, Kolin Burges stood outside Mt. Gox’s Tokyo office with a hand-painted cardboard sign, demanding answers from the exchange’s CEO, Mark Karpeles, about his missing bitcoins. Eleven years later, this famous sign, a symbol of the first major crisis in cryptocurrency history, will be auctioned with an opening bid of 4.5 BTC (equivalent to $383,000).
Burges traveled from London to Tokyo after Mt. Gox unexpectedly halted withdrawals, leading to reports by major news outlets such as the Wall Street Journal. Reflecting on the experience, Burges stated:
“At the time, it didn’t even cross my mind it could become valuable. I thought maybe I’d write a book someday, but the sign itself never seemed important. It’s remarkable how things have evolved.”
Burges described the atmosphere of his protest as surreal, particularly during his confrontation with Karpeles over the exchange’s failures. As the public panic around Mt. Gox grew, so too did Burges’ exposure to the media, highlighting the ongoing crisis.
In hindsight, Burges recalls:
“Mt. Gox kept dangling hope, but everyone could see the situation spiraling out of control. They even invited us inside to protest privately. It was ridiculous and desperate.”
After several concerning incidents, including a failed attempt to pay with a Mt. Gox credit card, the exchange quickly succumbed to insolvency; just days after Burges began his protest, Mt. Gox filed for bankruptcy. In a subsequent trial, Karpeles was found guilty of data manipulation but not embezzlement.
The auction of Burges’ iconic sign begins on Friday and will end on April 3.
