A U.S. district court judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed against now-defunct Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox and Japanese bank Mizuho due to a “lack of jurisdiction.”
Lawsuit Rejected
According to a report from Billionaire365, the lawsuit was filed by Gregory Pearce. He is reported to be one of the 24,000 users that were affected by the collapse of the exchange in 2014. Users depositing money into their Mt. Gox accounts did so through Japanese bank Mizuho.
The decision by the District Court of the United States of America of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania read:
Submitted before this Court by Mizuho’s Motion to Dismiss for Demerits to Establish an Injunction and for Lack of Jurisdiction (Exhibit 11); Pierce’s Response in Opposition to that Motion to Dismiss (Exhibit 12), as well as Mizuho’s Memorandum of Response Law (Exhibit 13); and for the reasons set forth below, Mizuho’s Motion for Lack of Jurisdiction is Granted.
Launched in 2010, during 2013 and 2014, Mt. Gox was handling around 70 percent of all Bitcoin transactions worldwide. However, after discovering the loss of $850,000 worth of bitcoins in late February 2014, it filed for civil rehabilitation. Two months later, it filed for bankruptcy protection. Sometime after that, $250,000 worth of bitcoins was found.
Since then, it has been an ongoing battle for the victims involved to get their money back. In April, it was reported that due to a Japanese bankruptcy law, Mark Karpelès, the former CEO of Mt. Gox, may end up receiving billions in Bitcoin. At the time, he argued that he didn’t want it and didn’t expect to receive anything.
Now, though, it may be that the light can finally be seen at the end of the tunnel. In August, reports indicated that a new system launch meant that former clients of the defunct exchange could file for rehabilitation claims for the return of their lost crypto.
Earlier this month, an online rehabilitation claiming system was opened for corporate users.
Market Impact
Of course, when affected users receive their money back, it remains to be seen what they’ll do. Will they hodl their coins or sell them? And if they sell them, what impact will this produce on the industry?
The first nine months of 2018 have been anything but promising for the crypto market. Bitcoin, for instance, has struggled throughout the year to gain anything higher than $8,000. At the time of writing, it’s trading at just under $6,500, according to CoinMarketCap. Yet, how much further will a major selloff push its price down?
According to Kim Nilsson, a former Mt. Gox client, a flood of payments could “completely crash the market,” reports The Telegraph.
Are you a former Mt. Gox user? Will you be selling or hodling your assets? Let us know in the comments below.
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