Despite the previously fixed deadline, 9 September 2015, investigation of the defunct bitcoin exchange continues. Japanese Bankruptcy Trustee looks for bitcoins hidden or lost, verifies creditors’ claims and considers whether bitcoins would be distributed to the creditors.

The investigation goes on, states the report submitted to the Tokyo District Court by the Bankruptcy Trustee Nobuaki Kobayashi and distributed at the fourth Mt. Gox’s creditors’ meeting, held yesterday. The deadline is extended until the fifth meeting, scheduled for 17 February 2016.

The total amount of claims made by 24,704 creditors exceeds ¥2.66 trillion which is equivalent to more than $22 billion (By way of comparison, the market cap of bitcoin is at present a little under $3.5 billion.) Of this sum, 95% is claimed by the three largest creditors. However, some claims may prove fraudulent. Kobayashi says he has not approved or disproved any of the claims yet because he is still investigating the disappearance of bitcoins and the balances of every user.  

The funds controlled by the Bankruptship Trustee include 202,159 BTC (though he is looking for more bitcoins that could have been hidden or lost by Mt.Gox) and ¥1.2 billion ($9.9 million). Since last April, ¥130 million ($1 million) have been spent on investigation. It is still unclear whether the creditors will see some of this money. According to Kobayashi, " the probability of distribution and the timing and method thereof, etc. have not yet been determined."

Mark Karpeles stays under detention on suspicion of corporate embezzlement, says the report. The reason is the evidence found by Kobayashi that ¥136 million of Mt.Gox’s funds have been transferred to Mark Karpeles’s personal account.

Redditors suspected those who filled the claims of trolling: 650,000 BTC that went missing during the Mt. Gox’s crash, were worth 300 million at that time, much less than $22 billion claimed. Putting it in words of a Reddit user, “I deposited 2 million Bitcoin, I swear! Mark must have changed the database and stolen it!”.

In August, Tokyo District Court stated that bitcoin is not “subject to ownership” responding to a claimant who sought to get his bitcoins back after Mt. Gox bankruptcy. This means that the other victims of Mt.Gox crush have a very small chance to receive compensation.

In June 2011, Mt. Gox, the most popular bitcoin exchange in the world, had at least 424,242 BTC, as was demonstrated by a bitcoin transaction made by Karpeles. However, after this date the funds started to leak out. According to an investigation by Wizsec, more than 400,000 BTC were stolen from Mt. Gox between June 2011 and May 2012 and probably sold for less than $20 apiece.

Alexey Tereshchenko