As a follow-up to a post made on Thursday which suggested that now-defunct exchange Mt. Gox may have recovered a significant amount of bitcoins comes the official confirmation from the company itself.
The confirmation came in the form of a PDF document which reads:
MtGox Co., Ltd. had certain old-format wallets which were used in the past and which, MtGox thought, no longer held any bitcoins. Following the application for commencement of a civil rehabilitation proceeding, these wallets were rescanned and their balance researched. On March 7, 2014, MtGox Co., Ltd. confirmed that an old-format wallet which was used prior to June 2011 held a balance of approximately 200,000 BTC (199,999.99 BTC)
The news comes as a shock, particularly because the company wasn’t even aware of the wallet – worth over $100 million USD.
MtGox Co., Ltd. investigated the presence of
these 200,000 BTC, immediately reported it to its counsels in the application for commencement of a civil rehabilitation proceedings (“counsels”). A hearing took place on March 8 where a detailed explanation of the situation was made to counsels. Immediately on Monday (March 10), counsels reported the existence of the 200,000 BTC to the Court and the Supervisor.
The company says that this lowers the amount of bitcoins that have disappeared to about 650,000.
This latest news highlights the sheer incompetence and unbelievable irresponsibility on behalf of the exchange, which many users trusted with their money.
The very fact that the “leading” bitcoin exchange could simply “find” over $100 million is mind-boggling to me personally, to say the least. And it’s not very often I reveal my personal opinions to you.
Amateur hour is over, Mt. Gox. Do what you have to do and disappear.
