MtGox loses over $400 Million worth of Bitcoin, Files for Bankruptcy Protection
With the recent events unfolding, Tokyo-based Bitcoin exchange, MtGox is officially filing bankruptcy protection on Friday in Japan with an outstanding debt of ¥6.5 billion (or $63.6 million USD).
CEO Mark Karpeles which was not been seen in public for several days has finally admitting openly that 750,000 of user Bitcoins and 100,000 of its own Bitcoin have been lost due to a security flaw in their software. “First of all, I’m very sorry,” said Karpeles during a conference at the Tokyo District Court. “The bitcoin industry is healthy and it is growing. It will continue, and reducing the impact is the most important point.”
In his suit and tie, Karpeles bowed before the media in the tradition of the business world of Japan. He told the press that his firm’s digital vaults had been almost completely emptied.
The 850,000 Bitcoins lost figure is much higher than the 744,400 mentioned in the leaked “Crisis Strategy Draft” released by the Two Bit Idiot, earlier this week. That number of Bitcoins would be worth around $420 million based on current rate.
These past few weeks has been a nightmare for former customers of the exchange. With withdrawals frozen earlier this month, customers are fed with false hopes of getting them re-enabled. Shortly thereafter, the entire Twitter history of MtGox disappeared, followed by leaked document of the “Crisis Strategy Draft”, and then the website itself went completely offline, just hours after halting trading completely.
The community seems to be prepared for the worse, with many speculations during this week that funds stored in the exchange were very much gone. On Wednesday, Karpeles reassured everyone that he is still in Japan and “working very hard with the support of different parties to find a solution to our recent issues.”
Kolin Burges, who held a protest outside MtGox’s Tokyo office for several weeks said that he would be packing up and head back to London.
The filing itself marks the end of the world’s once largest Bitcoin exchange.
