Justice Department charges two as Mt. Gox hackers

• Neither has been arrested yet, the DOJ confirmed to Axios.
• DOJ alleges that the men entered into fake contracts with a bitcoin broker in New York to launder bitcoin stolen from the exchange.

Why it matters: Japan-based Mt. Gox was, at one time, the most important place in the world to buy and sell bitcoins. Many users lost a small fortune when it collapsed and all of them are still waiting on what remains of the Mt. Gox estate to be redistributed to them.

• Mt. Gox shut down for good in 2014.

What they're saying: “As cyber criminals have become more sophisticated in their methods of thievery, our career prosecutors and law enforcement partners, too, have become experts in the latest technologies being abused for malicious purposes,” said Damian Williams, the Southern District's U.S. Attorney, in a statement.

Flashback: In 2017, the U.S. Treasury fined BTC-e $110 million for enabling various illicit activities on the Dark Web.

• The fact that Mt. Gox bitcoins were going through the exchange has been known.
• BTC-e operated from 2011 to 2017. The Justice Department says it served more than a million customers, including those operating ransomware rings and drug dealers.

What we're watching: The charges could mean more funds get recovered for Mt. Gox's victims, but they could also mean more delays.