Within the cryptocurrency community, the Mt Gox legal proceedings have been a very topical subject with a court case that has been dragged out for four years. Now a group of creditors are pleading with the Tokyo court to change the bankruptcy case to civil rehabilitation.
Also Read: Bitcoin’s Price Rise Brings Mt Gox Closer to Solvency
The Curious Case of Mt Gox and 200,000 BTC
Bitcoin has increased in value exponentially, and Mt Gox creditors want their share of the gains. According to reports, claimants now believe that the former trading platform’s assets outweigh the current liabilities. The firm is mostly controlled by the exchange’s CEO Mark Karpelès who is currently under investigation for embezzlement. In addition to the company’s branding rights and assets, the Tokyo based court trustee for the Mt Gox legal proceedings presently possesses over 200,000 BTC (US$3.4Bn). Karpelès found the funds after the exchange went under losing over 800,000 BTC (US$13.5Bn).
Petitioning the Court for Civil Rehabilitation
A petition was filed with the Tokyo courts that asks the Japanese bankruptcy officials to move the case into a different type of legal process called civil rehabilitation. If the case was changed to civil rehabilitation, then creditors could possibly receive all their funds in full which would be pro-rata per claimant. At the moment the way things are written by the Mt Gox trustee and the Tokyo court system claimants will only receive $450 per BTC. Moreover, at current prices, Karpelès could receive over $2Bn after the liquidation sale at current prices.
The Aim of Diversified Representation
According to a source close to the matter, the court system and trustee are considering the civil rehabilitation changes. Many creditors are not happy that Mt Gox’s shareholders, and Karpelès might be credited 173,000 BTC after losing all their money. Recently news.Bitcoin.com reported on the well-known owner of the website Mtgoxprotest.com, Kolin Burges, who has explained many times in the past that he’s not pleased with the way the bankruptcy case is unfolding. Burges is a member of the creditors group petitioning the court alongside Daniel Kelman, Josh Jones, and an unknown claimant. The team has drafted a creditors “constitution” and roadmap for how they are handling the civil rehabilitation petition.
“These are the founding members who are getting this thing off the ground, and any participation as voting members will be discussed during the consultation period — Kim Nilsson will be an advisor,” explains Burges.
We will appoint more committee members during the consultation period, this will be done with creditor participation and based around the aim of diversity of representation.
What do you think about the Mt Gox bankruptcy proceedings? Do you think the creditors should get a more fair share? And what about Mark Karpelès receiving over $2Bn from the liquidation sale? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
Images via Pixabay, Reuters/Toru Hanai
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