Once the once world’s largest Bitcoin Exchange platform Mt.Gox through its bankruptcy trustee is seeking to extend the deadline for rehabilitation claims. Through an announcement made on November 22, Nobuaki Kobayashi, the exchange’s trustee, stated that efforts are underway to convince the court to grant the deadline extension request.
December 26, new deadline
According to the attorney, “[I]f filings are delayed for reasons not attributable to creditors, proofs of rehabilitation claims filed after the deadline […] may be acceptable. Whether [these] will be accepted is determined by the court […] the Rehabilitation Trustee will make efforts to request the court to accept proofs of rehabilitation claims received by December 26, 2018 (Japan time).”
The attorney further argues that the creditors affected by the unfortunate hack are spread out worldwide and that more time would be needed to gather all proof of claims. The initial deadline for submissions was October 22 and so far a number of creditors have not yet submitted their claims.
Online and Offline filing systems available
Kobayashi affirmed that the online platform for rehabilitation claims filing was still accessible and that a manual system was available for creditors who could not access the digital system.
Mt.Gox once handled about 70% of worldwide Bitcoin trades and was hacked in 2011 barely a year after its official launch and subsequent collapse in 2014. The heist that resulted in the loss of about 850,000 bitcoins (roughly $460 million according to 2011’s valuation) is reportedly one of the largest digital thefts in the history of cryptocurrencies.
It is feared that about 24,000 creditors were affected by the hack in which the court intervened ordering rehabilitation claims in which Tokyo-based attorney Nobuaki Kobayashi was appointed to act in the capacity of trustee.
Kobayashi’s Efforts
Kobayashi was tasked with managing the exchange’s estate funds which he has so far announced the liquidation of approximately $230 million worth of Bitcoin (BTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) as of March 2018. His exemplary efforts earned him “Tokyo’s Bitcoin Whale” title although critics speculate that his massive sales of Bitcoins directly affected the coin’s prices negatively.
