SHORTLY AFTER FILING for bankruptcy, bitcoin trader MtGox has officially confirmed the loss of approximately 750,000 bitcoin, worth €346 million.
In a statement published on the company’s site, MtGox’s CEO Mark Karpeles said the difference between the amount it held in financial institutions and the amount deposited from its users was approximately 2.8 billion yen (€20 million).
The company also opened a call centre which will deal with any customers queries relating to MtGox as an investigation of the theft is carried out.
The events surrounding MtGox has dealt a blow to bitcoin’s efforts to be accepted by governments and financial institutions.
As a response, the heads of six of the world’s largest bitcoin exchanges – Coinbase, Kracken, BitStamp, Circle, Blockchain.info, and BTC China – published a statement addressing the problems surrounding MtGox, stressing that it’s does not represent the currency or the bitcoin community.
This tragic violation of the trust of users of Mt.Gox was the result of one company’s actions and does not reflect the resilience or value of bitcoin and the digital currency industry… In order to re-establish the trust squandered by the failings of Mt. Gox, responsible bitcoin exchanges are working together and are committed to the future of bitcoin and the security of all customer funds.
Karpeles said that “all efforts will now be made to restore the business and recover damages to repay debts to creditors” and that rebuilding the company while being transparent “will not be for the sole benefit of the company but for that of the whole bitcoin community.”
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