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Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox files for bankruptcy protection

Photo: REUTERS/YUYA SHINO
Photo: REUTERS/YUYA SHINO

After several hectic weeks and numerous problems, Mt. Gox has decided to file for bankruptcy protection in Japan with a debt of $63.6 million. The news was announced this Friday (28) during a press conference held in Tokyo.

The exchange blamed the denouement on the actions carried out by hackers who attacked Mt. Gox’s faulty system during a long period of time, which led to the loss of a massive amount of BTC worth around half a billion dollarsaccording to Reuters. The value of a Bitcoin was $140 on Tuesday (25th), when Bitcoincharts.com stopped registering the exchange’s price.

During the conference, at the Tokyo District Court, the company’s CEO, Mark Karpeles, apologized in Japanese and blamed the whole situation on the exchange’s weak system. Nevertheless, he believes Bitcoin will keep growing. “First of all, I’m very sorry. The Bitcoin industry is healthy and it is growing. It will continue, and reducing the impact is the most important point”, he said.

Mt. Gox shut down its website on Tuesday (25) after freezing withdrawals earlier this month.

Tyler Winklevoss published a message on his blog addressed to all Mt. Gox’s customers that have lost their digital savings. “Let me first preface this by saying that my thoughts are with all those who may have lost money with Mt. Gox. While I did not have funds at Mt. Gox, I have felt the pain of investing in a young ecosystem that is on its way to adulthood, but not quite there yet”, he said.

Tyler added that “it can’t be emphasized enough that Mt. Gox’s demise was not a Bitcoin problem; it was a Mt. Gox problem. I stopped using Mt. Gox this summer when it started to look like roach motel. Fiat withdrawals were being delayed, which was a pretty good indication to me that its assets and liabilities may not have been matching up.  As they say, if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck… it is a duck”.

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