Tokyo Court Robs Mt. Gox Plaintiffs of their Bitcoin Ownership
The Tokyo District Court recently rejected a lawsuit by a Kyoto resident seeking reimbursement for Bitcoin he lost during the last year's Mt. Gox hack. As reported by a Japanese daily, the court made the said judgements after considering virtual currencies as the assets that cannot be owned by anyone. In spite of sounding ridiculous, this new definition of Bitcoin robbed the aforementioned petitioner - and other Mt. Gox plaintiffs - of their rights to recover their lost funds from the bankrupt exchange. Presiding Judge Masumi Kurachi explained the reason behind putting Bitcoin in a....
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Akihiro Shiba is an attorney-at-law qualified in Japan, working at Nishimura & Asahi's Tokyo office, with expertise in financial regulations and transactions and provides advice on virtual currencies. In this article, he examines what the recent Tokyo District Court ruling means for the status of bitcoin in Japan. In a lawsuit filed by an individual against the bankruptcy trustee for Mt Gox, formerly the most widely used bitcoin exchange in the world, the Tokyo District Court handed down a judgment on 5th August, 2015, holding that bitcoins are not subject to ownership. This is probably....
Tokyo's District Court has ruled that bitcoin is "not subject to ownership", with a judge informing a plaintiff he could not claim for bitcoins lost in the Mt Gox collapse. Judge Masumi Kurachi stated that, due to their intangible nature and reliance on third parties, bitcoins cannot be covered under existing law. Kurachi's comments, reported by The Japan Times, came during a lawsuit bought against bankrupt bitcoin exchange Mt Gox by an unnamed Kyoto resident. Representing himself in court, the plaintiff had demanded repayment of 458 bitcoins, today worth $128,144, that were held in his....
Plaintiffs seeking to recover losses from Cryptsy, the defunct, Florida-based cryptocurrency exchange that claimed to have lost more than $5 million due to theft, have reached a settlement with one of the defendants, although the principal defendant remains at large, according to a court filing. The plaintiffs reached a settlement in excess of $1 million from defendant Lorie Ann Nettles, depending on proceeds of asset liquidation, according to the filing in the United States District Court, Southern District of Florida. Principal defendant Paul Vernon is believed to have fled to China with....
Previously, the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office indicted Mark Karpeles with embezzlement. This week, The Guardian disclosed that the former Mt. Gox CEO has been alleged by the Japanese Prosecutors for the embezzlement of US$2.62 million worth of bitcoin. Karpeles however, denied the charges and claimed that he "had intended to pay back the money," reported the Yomiuri Shimbun. Bitcoin Cannot be owned. On August 6, the Tokyo District Court ruled that the bitcoins lost during the collapse of Mt. Gox cannot be reimbursed, because virtual currency cannot be subjected to ownership.....
This document on the Mt. Gox website announces the Tokyo court ruling, ordering bankruptcy proceedings for the exchange. The Mt. Gox website got updated with a new document. The Tokyo District Court ordered liquidation to begin at the failed Bitcoin exchange. This definitive order follows an earlier announcement made last week, where the bankruptcy administrator said it would be difficult to get Mt. Gox started again. "At 5 p.m. on April 24, 2014, the Tokyo District Court issued an order of commencement of the bankruptcy proceedings for MtGox Co., Ltd. (the "Company") (Case No.: Heisei....