Ledger CEO Pascal Gauthier directly confronted former Mt. Gox boss Mark Karpelès over claims that better disclosure could have prevented over $90 million in losses linked to tampered Ledger hardware wallets.
Karpelès argued that more transparent communication from Ledger about tampering risks would have saved users significant funds. Gauthier rejected that premise, saying disclosure alone cannot account for losses from compromised devices that reached end-users.
The dispute centers on responsibility: Ledger designs hardware wallets to secure private keys offline, isolating them from online threats. Device tampering before delivery to users presents a separate vulnerability outside the company's direct control.
Karpelès' background as the CEO of Mt. Gox—which collapsed in 2014 after losing hundreds of thousands of Bitcoin to a hack—gives his security critique particular weight in the crypto community. The exchange was the largest Bitcoin trading platform before its failure.
