Kraken & Tokyo Trustee Announce ‘Significant Progress’ in MtGox Claims Investigation
Bitcoin exchange Kraken and the Tokyo District Court-assigned Trustee assigned to the MtGox creditors’ claims investigation have revealed that there is “significant progress” being made, in an update today.
In an email communicated to CCN.com today, an update from Kraken and Tokyo District Court-assigned Trustee Nobuaki Kobayashi confirms that “significant progress” has been made into the investigation into claims from creditors of MtGox.
Trustee Kobayashi stated:
Although the investigation into MtGox claims is still ongoing, we have made significant progress for creditors.
The Court-appointed Trustee was aided by Kraken after the now-global exchange was chosen to assist the Trustee in 2014. The two were tasked in the bankruptcy investigation of missing Bitcoin, receiving claims and distributing remaining assets to creditors of the now-defunct exchange – MtGox.
The following is a translated document of the update by the bankruptcy trustee, wherein Nobuaki Kobayashi revealed the present situation of the bankruptcy estate.
The status of the bankruptcy estate, based on the investigation conducted up to the time of preparation of this Report, is as shown in the List of Assets and the Balance Sheet, and the balance in the account that I have secured as of February 16, 2016 is JPY ¥1,210,107,188, i.e., a decrease of approximately JPY ¥30,000,000 from the time of the 4th creditors’ meeting.
However, since the investigation of the status of the holdings of BTC is still on-going, such List of Assets and Balance Sheet do not contain BTC held by the bankrupt entity, or claims for the return of BTC (which constitute the bankruptcy claim).
The Latest Numbers
Today’s update revealed the following figures:
Out of 9,863 individuals who filed for Bitcoin-only claims (either through the Japanese Trustee or Kraken’s online service), 7,952 claimants have been approved.
That’s ¥12,583,717,791 Japanese Yen (approx. $110 million USD or 263,094 BTC) in bitcoin approved to creditors, with ¥27,547,026,403 Japanese Yen (approx. $241 million USD or 576, 417 BTC), in bitcoin, on hold.
A further 14,685 claimants have filed for bankruptcy claims related to both bitcoin- and money deposits, although none have been accepted or rejected at this time.
Altogether, 24,733 people from around the world have filed bankruptcy claims directly related to MtGox. The total amount of bankruptcy claims filed in bitcoin and fiat currencies represent ¥ 2,695,239,249,594 Japanese Yen or $23.6 billion USD (an inflated number which is certain to represent bogus claims).
The Trustee is currently in possession of 202,163.41191816 bitcoin, currently worth over $84 million USD.
In a statement, Kraken CEO Jesse Powell added:
Continued progress in the Mt.Gox bankruptcy proceedings will have beneficial effects for the bitcoin community globally. Kraken is proud to volunteer our resources and expertise in an attempt to minimize damage to creditors [and] restore faith in the bitcoin community.
Featured image from Shutterstock.
