MtGox, once the worlds largest Bitcoin exchange, filed for bankruptcy in Japan, focusing attention on the digital currencys risks.
The company, which had revenue of $1.3 million in the past year, applied in Tokyo District Court with debt exceeding its assets by about $2.6 million, Mt. Gox said in a statement. The exchange discovered on Feb. 24 that it had lost 750,000 Bitcoins belonging to users and 100,000 of its own, it said. The bankruptcy may help customers
The collapse follows
MtGox Chief Executive Officer Mark Karpeles said his company lost Bitcoins because its computer systems were weak, according to remarks broadcast on NHK today. The firm had 6.5 billion yen in debt.
Companies from San Francisco to London as well as the virtual currencys industry group, the Bitcoin Foundation, have been seeking to assure Bitcoin users that their funds wont disappear due to theft or mismanagement.
The digital currency was introduced in 2008 by a programmer or group of programmers under the name Satoshi Nakamoto and has since gained traction with merchants and consumers around the world. Bitcoin has no central issuing authority, and uses a public ledger to verify transactions while preserving users anonymity.
Even as regulators and investors struggle to grasp Bitcoins many uses, including investment vehicle, payment processing system and money laundering tool, they are now confronted with the complexities of an emerging derivatives market where entrepreneurs say current rules dont apply.
George Samman, a former Wall Street investment adviser who in May helped start a platform for betting on Bitcoins price swings, saw trading on his BTC.sx website grow to more than $35 million by Jan. 21. After the shutdown at MtGox, BTC.sx suspended trading because it had to find another exchange partner for its customers.
In the U.S., states are wrestling with how digital currency businesses could be regulated as money transmitters.
