The popular, now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange Mt Gox has recently opened rehabilitation claims for its bitcoin creditors, which can be filed either online or offline until October 22, so creditors can retrieve their lost funds.
Through a recently published note, the exchange’s trustee Nobuaki Kobayashi revealed that an online filing system is now up and running and that it can be used by creditors without “using time or money” to easily participate in the civil rehabilitation proceedings.
Per Kobayashi, creditors have until October 22 of this year to file their claims. The note reads:
The deadline for filing proofs of rehabilitation claim set by the Tokyo District Court is October 22, 2018 (Japan time), so please make sure that you file a proof of rehabilitation claim by that deadline.
Failing to do so by the deadline, he noted, could lead to disenfranchisement, meaning creditors could lose their right to claim their funds. While those who still have access to their Mt Gox accounts should submit the information online, those who don’t were provided with an address in Tokyo to send them to.
Mt Gox was a once dominant cryptocurrency exchange that collapsed in 2014 amid claims of insolvency and security breaches. At the time, hundreds of millions of dollars worth of bitcoin were stolen, leading to a price crash. Later on, recovery efforts managed to recover 200,000 BTC which were then held by the trustee.
As CryptoGlobe covered the Tokyo District Court moved Mt Gox’s case from criminal bankruptcy to civil rehabilitation earlier this year, a major victory for the firm’s creditors. Had the case remained in criminal bankruptcy, creditors would have been paid in fiat currency, equivalent to bitcoin’s exchange rate at the time, about $500 per coin.
Since then, the cryptocurrency has appreciated to over $6,700 at press time. Mt Gox’s former CEO Mark Karpeles, who was charged with embezzlement and data manipulation, would’ve received most of the difference.
The amount Karpeles could receive would be of about $1 billion. As covered, he stated he doesn’t want said funds as he never expected to receive anything from the bankruptcy, and added that the possibility of him becoming a billionaire this way is an “aberration.”
Notably, creditors who did not submit claims prior to Mt Gox’s bankruptcy being moved to civil rehabilitation, will be able to submit their proof of claims now.
