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Victims of the Mt. Gox hack can now file rehabilitation claims under a new procedure announced by the trustee of the exchange, Nobuaki Kobayashi. Currently, the system is available only to individual claimants. October 22, 2018 is the filing deadline set by the Tokyo District Court.
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Mt. Gox Trustee Announces Rehabilitation Proceedings
Crypto investors who lost funds in the Mt. Gox hack have been invited to file rehabilitation claims against the exchange for the return of cryptocurrency and money, according to a press release posted on its website. The claim procedures were announced and will be overseen by the court-appointed rehabilitation trustee, Nobuaki Kobayashi.
In accordance with the Civil Rehabilitation Act of Japan, the victims of the notorious hack can now submit proofs for rehabilitation, either online, or via mail to the office of the trustee in Tokyo if they are unable to use the recommended online method. Instructions for both the online and offline filings have been published as well. The announcement reads:
Users around the world can, without using time or money, easily participate in the civil rehabilitation proceedings through filing proofs of exchange-related rehabilitation claim in accordance with the Civil Rehabilitation Act of Japan and other laws and ordinances. Filing proofs of rehabilitation claim with the online method will benefit all interested parties.
Further details can be found in another document listing basic questions and answers titled “Q&As for Filing Proofs of Rehabilitation Claim.” The trustee has warned claimants that inquiries made directly to his office by email will not be answered. The preferred point of contact is the following phone number: +81-3-4588-3922, between 1:00 pm and 10:00 pm Japan time.
Filing System Intended Only for Individual Claimants
According to the notice, the filing process described is intended only for individual investors. Corporate creditors will have to file their claims at a later date, after a separate system is released. October 22, 2018 is the deadline set by the Tokyo District Court for filing proofs of rehabilitation claim. After that the right to claim might be lost. The planned date for the trustee to submit his approval or rejection to the court is January 24, 2019 but a definite date is yet to be determined.
When filing a claim, investors can also check the balances in their Mt. Gox accounts by signing in with their username or e-mail address and password. The maintained database reflects the conducted claim investigations. It’s been pointed out that additional functions will be released in the future. Further notifications will be made public via the platform’s website.
The announcement follows the approval of a petition filed with the Tokyo District Court in November, 2017. In June of this year the court heard it and issued an order for the commencement of the civil rehabilitation which effectively stayed the bankruptcy proceedings. With the civil rehabilitation claims creditors will be able to receive compensation in bitcoin, their assets will not be converted to fiat currency.
In early August creditors agreed to be paid by the trustee 160,000 in BTC and 168,000 in BCH. Nobuaki Kobayashi had already liquidated 30,000 of the 200k bitcoins he controlled. Mt. Gox, once the largest and most popular bitcoin exchange, filed for bankruptcy protection in 2014 after losing 744,000 BTC in the hack.
What is your opinion about the procedures for compensating victims of the Mt. Gox hack? Share your thoughts on the recent developments in the comments section below.
Images courtesy of Shutterstock.
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