Mt. Gox CEO Mark Karpeles tells Creditors: I’m on Your Side
Former Mt. Gox CEO Mark Karpeles has a simple message for creditors of the disgraced, now-defunct Bitcoin exchange: I’m on your side. Karpeles, who oversaw the Tokyo-based exchange during its infamous collapse in 2014, reiterated this claim in a Reddit AMA on Wednesday, alleging that he does not want to profit from the company’s bankruptcy, which is currently proceeding through the Japanese courts.”I don’t want this. I don’t want this billion dollars. From day one I never expected to receive anything from this bankruptcy,” Karpeles said. “The fact that today this is a possibility is an aberration and I believe it is my responsibility to make sure it doesn’t happen.””I do not want to become instantly rich. I do not ask for forgiveness. I just want to see this end as soon as possible with everyone receiving their share of what they had on MtGox so everyone, myself included, can get some closure,” he added. As CCN reported, Karpeles stands to gain more than a billion dollars worth of cryptocurrency at the conclusion of the bankruptcy, because — at least at present — it appears that creditors will be compensated for their holdings at the price of Bitcoin in 2014 — $480 per BTC. Karpeles said that he is advocating for Mt. Gox to be moved into civil rehabilitation, which would give creditors the ability to vote on the exchange’s future. Consequently, they could vote to distribute the company’s remaining BTC — as well as the coins derived from its forks — directly to creditors rather than selling them and paying the proceeds in fiat currency.”I am doing my best to make it happen,” he said. Last month, the trustee of the Mt. Gox estate revealed that he had sold more than $400 million worth of BTC and BCH during the recent market downturn, funds which were used to cover the bankrupt company’s JPY liabilities. The estate is believed to still hold more than 160,000 BTC and BCH, and it is unclear whether the court will instruct the estate to sell these funds in the future. Featured image from YouTube