Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox applies for a moratorium – update

The bitcoin exchange has applied for a postponement of payment in its home country of Japan. In any case, this has made it clear that financial problems are at the root of the disappearance of the stock market earlier this week. In 2013, Mt. Gox still made a profit.

The message about applying for a moratorium comes from Japanese media, Reuters writes. The stock exchange is probably no longer able to meet its payment obligations due to a major theft. Earlier this week, there were reports that Mt. Gox has lost 744,000 bitcoins, worth a total of $350 million, through theft in recent years. mt. Gox went offline on Tuesday and the status of the exchange has been unclear since then.

The financial problems are in stark contrast to the situation presented in a document called Business Plan Europe 2014 – 2017. That 27-page document appeared online on Wednesday and appears to be from the board of the stock exchange, but it is not known whether it is an authentic document. The plan states that Mt. Gox made $286,000 in profit in 2013 and was expected to grow to $2 million in 2014 and even 39 million by 2016.

Meanwhile, Mt. Gox are under investigation in both Japan and the US because of the problems. They started after the service discovered it was a victim of transaction malleability. The exchange pointed the finger of blame at the bitcoin protocol, but according to experts, the service could have easily protected itself against it. mt. Gox also suffered from DDoS attacks and declining popularity.

Update, 12.00: According to The Wall Street Journal, Mt. When applying for a moratorium, Gox announced that 750,000 bitcoins belonging to users and 100,000 own bitcoins have disappeared. This would mean that users have been duped for a total of 306 million euros and the stock exchange itself for almost 41 million. Furthermore, the stock market would have a debt of a total of 46 million euros.