Tokyo court approves submission deadline extension for Mt Gox bitcoin exchange rehabilitation plan

The court-ordered submission deadline for defunct bitcoin exchange Mt Gox's civil rehabilitation plan has been extended to July 1.

An outline of the draft rehabilitation plan circulated last week head of a creditor meeting, offering details about the expected wind-down of the exchange, which collapsed in early 2014 due to insolvency and amid allegations of fraud and mismanagement. Mt Gox's failure triggered a years-long sequence of events that saw the exchange operator declare bankruptcy and its CEO found guilty in court of tampering with financial records. The collapse led many of the world's regulators to draft new oversight rules for cryptocurrencies and the companies that handle them.

Among other elements, the draft, as written, indicated that payouts would be made in the form of the claims filed, whether in the form of fiat currencies like the Japanese yen or in the form of bitcoin or bitcoin cash. Mt Gox entered civil rehabilitation in June 2018, a move that paused the then-ongoing bankruptcy proceedings. 

THE SCOOP

Keep up with the latest news, trends, charts and views on crypto and DeFi with a new biweekly newsletter from The Block's Frank Chaparro

By signing-up you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy
By signing-up you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

The March 30 notice suggests that the rehabilitation could undergo some changes, although it's unclear what those might be compared to the existing draft. The original court-ordered deadline for the rehabilitation plan was March 31.

"The Rehabilitation Trustee is currently formulating the rehabilitation plan, but as there are matters that require closer examination with regard to the rehabilitation plan, it has become necessary to extend the submission deadline for the rehabilitation plan," the notice stated, adding:

"In light of the foregoing, the Rehabilitation Trustee filed a motion to seek an extension of the submission deadline of the rehabilitation plan at the Tokyo District Court, and, on March 27, 2020, the Tokyo District Court issued an order to extend the submission deadline for the rehabilitation plan to July 1, 2020."