TodaY I received a PDF file called “Announcement of Commencement of Bankruptcy Proceedings_212014” And basically, it tells me that MtGox, a bitcoin market, is definitely going bankrupt. But that was to be expected. I have less than a single euro in bitcoins at MtGox I have no regrets for trying out their service. But plenty of other people have made big investments in bitcoins and stored them at MtGox. Chances are that they will have lost it all, since MtGox has plenty of bills it needs to pay first.

To make it more complex, its unclear if bitcoins can be considered equal to money or not. They’re just a collection of bytes in a specific order and format and they’re worth exactly what people are willing to pay for them. It will be interesting to see what the Japanese court system will think of the value of bitcoins. People might still get their bitcoins if the Liquidator thinks they’re worthless. But if the system in Japan is similar to the Netherlands, that Liquidator could just auction off all bitcoins that MtGox still have to pay off the debts. The remaining cash would then be compensation for anyone who had their bitcoins stored there.

Of course, plenty of other countries (the USA and UK) are probably willing to dig into the action and try to get some financial compensation too. Plenty of American people have lost a lot of money because of this. But the Japanese government goes first and all others have to pick the remaining bones. And I don’t think there will be a lot of meat left on those bones…

The lesson learned from this is, of course, that bitcoins aren’t that safe. Especially if you have them stored at some bitcoin site as MtGox. You are losing control over your money and considering how much bitcoins have been worth in the past, being careless with them can cause a big financial blow. Then again, people can also lose bitcoins if they store them on their own systems. Bitcoins on your phone can get lost if your phone is stolen or damaged. Bitcoins on your computer are always at risk of getting wiped away. I’ve heard of one guy who threw away his old laptop and later learned that he had a few thousands of bitcoins on it, each worth over $1,000 in cash! A very expensive mistake, although he had mined them himself so he did not really lose money. He just made no profits from the mining.

So, please consider what you’re doing when you will use some crypto-money like bitcoins. Make sure you’re well-informed and don’t buy them in large quantities if you just want to save your money somehow. It’s better to just start mining them yourself so your losses can be under control.

And yes, banks can go bankrupt too, but crypto-currency is a bit more riskier since there’s no proof to tell that you really owned them. Once they’re gone, you won’t get them back. This is still something that you should leave to true pioneers who are willing to take risks.

The email itself:

関係人各位

株式会社MTGOX（以下「MTGOX」といいます。）につき、平成26年4月24日午後5時00分、東京地方裁判所より破産手続開始決定がなされ、当職が破産管財人に選任されました（東京地方裁判所平成26年（フ）第3830号）。
今後、破産管財人において、MTGOXの財産管理換価、債権調査等の破産手続を遂行していきます。
つきましては、関係者に対する情報提供を目的として、破産手続に関する基本的事項を添付のとおりお知らせいたしますので、ご確認ください。

なお、このメールアドレス（mtgox_trustee@noandt.com ）は破産管財人からの送信専用であり、貴殿が本メールアドレス宛の返信等をされても内容確認及び回答などの対応はできません。
破産手続の進行等については、ウェブサイト（ http://www.mtgox.com/ ）で情報提供をする予定ですので、当該ウェブサイトをご確認ください。
宜しくお願いいたします。

破産者株式会社MTGOX  破産管財人弁護士小林信明


To whom it may concern,

At 5:00 p.m. on April 24, 2014, the Tokyo District Court granted the order for the commencement of the bankruptcy proceedings vis-à-vis MtGox Co., Ltd. (“MtGox”), and based upon such order, I was appointed as the bankruptcy trustee (Tokyo District Court 2014 (fu) no. 3830).
The bankruptcy trustee will implement the bankruptcy proceedings, including the administration and realization of the assets and investigation of the claims.
For the purpose of providing information to the related parties, we hereby inform you of the basic matters regarding the bankruptcy proceedings as attached.

This email address（mtgox_trustee@noandt.com） is used only for the purpose of sending messages, and we are unable to check and respond to any replies to this email address.
Since we plan to provide the information regarding the bankruptcy proceedings by posting it on the website hosted by the bankruptcy trustee ( http://www.mtgox.com/ ), please check this website.

Bankrupt MtGox Co., Ltd. Bankruptcy trustee Attorney-at-law Nobuaki Kobayashi