This week Kolin Burges of the website “Mtgoxprotest,” wrote an interesting new blog post called “Who will get our 200,000 bitcoins?” After attending a few creditors meetings, Burges is upset about the Mt Gox bankruptcy process, because when it finally comes to an end claimants will likely only receive $483 per BTC. Further Mt Gox victims are still uncertain about the bankruptcy trustee’s plan, and no one truly knows when claimants will be paid due to issues with the American firm Coinlab’s lawsuit.
Also Read: Bitcoin’s Price Rise Brings Mt Gox Closer to Solvency
Mt Gox Claimants Who Held Bitcoin on the Exchange Will Likely Only Receive $483 per BTC
The owner of the notorious website Mtgoxprotest.com is not too happy with the Mt Gox bankruptcy process taking place in Tokyo, Japan. According to the website’s founder Kolin Burges, some of the claimant’s lawyers were initially “upbeat about the prospects of the creditors receiving the full value from their sold 200k bitcoins.” However, Burges believes it’s likely Mt Gox administrators will sell the 200,000 bitcoins at full value and claimants will still only receive $483 per BTC. The remaining value would then possibly be passed on to shareholders like the exchange’s parent company Tibanne.
“Liquidation is performed under corporate law rather than bankruptcy law, and the remaining money in the company would go to the shareholders,” explains Burges. “They don’t currently know of a way to avoid this situation — This is not good news.”
The Mt Gox Bankruptcy and Coinlab Complications
Moreover, the Mt Gox creditors situation is far more complicated because the company Coinlab had filed a lawsuit against Mt Gox for $75 million. Mark Karpeles the former CEO of Mt Gox has said the company, Coinlab, and its founder Peter Vessenes is making the bankruptcy process more difficult. Back in May, Karpeles talked about the Mt Gox bankruptcy possibly becoming solvent because of bitcoin’s meteoric price rise. At the time Karpeles said with Coinlab suing the company it really made the claims value around “59 percent.”
According to news.Bitcoin.com’s sources familiar with the matter, Coinlab doesn’t want to settle and wants the case kicked back to the U.S. With a dragged out lawsuit it means it could be several years before any of settlement from the Mt Gox case is resolved. Back in 2012, the two firms made a deal giving Coinlab rights to handle the exchange’s US and Canadian clients. Following the deal, Mt Gox did not hand over clients and databases to Coinlab because allegedly the company could not procure enough funds to get licensed in the U.S. and Canadian regions. In May of 2013, Coinlab sued Mt Gox for breaching the contract, and the lawsuit has been pending ever since.
The Goxdox II Leaks
In addition to the lawsuit a website called “Goxdox II” details some compelling information against Peter Vessenes and Coinlab’s lawsuit. The website has quite a few posts that say Vessenes is the “Mt Gox villain,” alongside disclosing revealing emails, a full list of non-depositor claimants, and more. Goxdox also confirms Coinlab’s partnership deal fell through because Vessenes couldn’t get licensed and the lawsuit is the primary reason claimants won’t be paid for a very long time.
“Peter oversold his capabilities, couldn’t get licensed, couldn’t legally service US and Canada, and Mark decided not to cooperate,” explains the Goxdox post ‘Email-Gate.’ “Peter sued, hoping to at least get some settlement out of the $50M liquidated damages clause he negotiated for CoinLab.”
Those claims are the reason why Mt Gox creditors haven’t yet been paid, have no idea when they will be repaid, and face a major dilution on their return.
Claimants Believe the Mt Gox Bankruptcy Distribution Process is Not Fair
Sources familiar with the matter also say that a vast majority of all the claims at Mt Gox have already been settled. Currently, there are two claimants who were not customers of the exchange; CoinLab and Tibanne (Mt Gox). Coinlab has filed a hefty claim towards Tibanne’s bankruptcy, and the trustee could use the gains from the sale to settle with Coinlab. Creditors will not have any say in this process unless they protest the settlement.
Our sources explain that many claimants are upset that fiat holders will get 100 percent back, shareholders will get a repayment, but customers who held BTC with Mt Gox will only get $483 per bitcoin. According to claimants, they are the main reason the trustee held the 200k BTC the entire time, and they believe the bankruptcy process is not giving a fair and equitable payout to everyone.
What do you think about the complications with the Mt Gox bankruptcy process and Coinlab’s lawsuit? Let us know what you think about this case in the comments below.
Images via MtGoxProtest, the LA Times, the website Goxdox II, and the Coinlab logo.
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