Ledger CEO Brands Ex-Mt. Gox Boss 'No White Knight' Over Spy Chip Scandal

After being accused by former Mt. Gox head Mark Karpelès of knowing about advanced spy implants in March, Ledger CEO Pascal Gauthier responded by telling Karpelès he is “no white knight.”

Karpelès contends that more transparent warnings at that time could have stopped users from losing over $90 million.

Did Ledger Miss Warning Signs for Months?

The former Mt. Gox boss helped expose the threat after unboxing a factory-sealed Ledger device and uncovering a concealed circuit board. The implant was capable of harvesting a wallet's 24-word recovery phrase and sending it to attackers.

With that recovery phrase, an attacker gains full command of the associated cryptocurrency holdings.

Karpelès now asserts that Ledger was aware of sophisticated implants as far back as March.

He cited a March 6 security guide that depicted both hand-crafted and mass-fabricated spy chips. However, the article was not updated until September, leaving ambiguity around when the images were added.

More concerning is Ledger's admission that its Genuine Check tool cannot identify implants if the factory security chip has not been disturbed.

Karpelès is convinced that more forceful public warnings could have stopped the thefts.

Correction: I said @Ledger didn't talk about the implant situation at all despite knowing about it – they did publish an academy topic in March 2026 that talks about it and recommends buying direct or from Authorized Resellers.https://t.co/UUNH1H2L3D pic.twitter.com/UNrxyLnsmd

— Mark Karpelès (@MagicalTux) October 17, 2026

Ledger CEO References the Mt. Gox Collapse

Gauthier first defended Ledger's response, encouraging Karpelès to confine himself to the facts.

He then turned the exchange personal.

“Coming from the Mt Gox CEO… Come on man, you are no white knight. Get real.”

— Pascal Gauthier

The remark was a direct allusion to the 2014 collapse of Mt. Gox, when roughly 850,000 Bitcoin disappeared on Karpelès' watch.

Karpelès replied that his own history was exactly the reason he held others to a higher standard.

Meanwhile, Ledger has suspended sales through the CryptoBilis reseller, though reports of tampered devices in Europe have expanded the scope of the concerns.

Competitor Trezor has already acted to shrink its own reseller network.

For investors storing significant cryptocurrency offline, the clash reveals a critical flaw: even a genuine hardware wallet cannot ensure that the device which arrives has not been tampered with.