Short answers, pulled from the story.
A cryptocurrency exchange functions as a business that allows customers to trade digital currencies for other assets. These platforms accept credit card payments and wire transfers in exchange for the digital tokens.
Mt. Gox suspended trading and closed its website on the 14th of February 2014 following a large theft of bitcoins stolen from its hot wallet over time. The theft began in late 2011 and continued until the company filed for bankruptcy protection in Japan.
Arthur Budovsky and Vladimir Kats were sentenced in 2007 to five years in prison for engaging in the business of transmitting money without a license. They operated from their apartments transmitting more than $30 million to digital currency accounts between 2002 and 2006.
Japan mandates a special license from the Financial Services Authority to operate a cryptocurrency exchange while China and Korea remain hostile with China banning bitcoin miners and freezing bank accounts. Australia requires citizens to disclose their digital assets for capital gains tax but has not yet announced conclusive regulations.
FTX entered bankruptcy proceedings in the US court system on the 11th of November 2022 after facing a liquidity crisis that left it valued at $18 billion. Founder Sam Bankman-Fried was extradited from the Bahamas and charged by the US attorney's office for the southern district of New York with fraud on the 13th of December 2022.