Mt. Gox’s Investors Rally For Postponement Of Verdict To Next February

By Rishma Banerjee

Mt. Gox was a bitcoin exchange from Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. By  2014 it was handling over 70% of all bitcoin (BTC) transactions worldwide, making them the largest bitcoin intermediary and the world’s foremost bitcoin exchange. However, in February 2014, Mt. Gox suspended operations and filed for bankruptcy protection from creditors.

Mt. Gox reported that almost 850,000 bitcoins belonging to customers and the company were missing and was likely to be stolen, an amount, which at that time had a value of $450 million.

Joseph Lack introduced a lawsuit, after an amount of $40,000 did not get deposited in his account at the Mizuho Bank, and the loss was never recovered. Mizuho Bank which was being sued by U.S investors has already made efforts to have the lawsuit removed by claiming the money transfers from the customers in California was “passive” They thus, were not responsible for whatever that had transpired. The courts, however, discarded the appeal on the grounds that they were unconvincing.

Last month, a trustee of Mt. Gox, Nobuaki Kobayashi declared that he has been able to raise $617 million, by selling a considerable amount of Bitcoin Core (BTC). This amount, he announced would be enough to cover all the losses incurred and not just provide for a partial compensation, as was previously expected.

According to Reuters, the plaintiffs’ lawyers led by Joseph Lack and the defendant, are now asking for a stay in the case until February 28, 2019. This will give both the plaintiffs and the defendant some extra time to better understand if they are to be partially or fully compensated for the losses incurred due to the collapse of Mt. Gox. The delay helps both the parties to make more appropriate recommendations to the Court in LA, USA.