There’s been a lot of chatter recently regarding the Mt. Gox filing for bankruptcy protection. Today, we’re learning via Bloomberg Businessweek that United States Bankruptcy Judge Stacey G. Jernigan has approved the filing and has “ample legal authority” to recognize the disgraced exchange’s bankruptcy in Japan as the main proceeding.
The approval will allow the company’s trustee in Japan to examine witnesses, assemble evidence, and control and oversee company assets right here in the United States.
“This is really going to be all about the customers,” said Jernigan in a hearing.
Mt. Gox first sought to gain bankruptcy protection in the United States in early March, not terribly long before it did so in Japan.
Among furious speculation of the company becoming insolvent, the exchange halted withdrawals in early February, eventually disabling trading and taking their website offline on February 24th.
In the aftermath of the exchange’s collapse, it was discovered that upwards of 700,000 bitcoins had been mysteriously lost, worth well over $400 million USD at the current exchange rate.
Weeks later, in late March, the company had announced it had found a whopping 200,000 bitcoins stored in an old wallet the company assumed was empty.
At present time, investors who lost money at the exchange (some losing their live savings, unbelievably), are looking for some level of relief, either by having assets divided or by reviving the exchange and paying back users.
One such entity — Sunlot Holdings — seeks to buy out Mt. Gox for the grand total of one bitcoin in order to bring the exchange back to life and re-pay those who lost money.
[textmarker color=”C24000″]Source[/textmarker] Bloomberg BusinessWeek