A class-action lawsuit filed in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice against the now infamous former Bitcoin exchange, Mt. Gox, and its owner Mark Karpeles, is to be dismissed, leaving many Canadian former exchange customers still without their stolen Bitcoins.
Mutual agreement
In a notice released on the Charney Lawyers website, the solicitors representing those who filed the lawsuit said a decision was made by all involved parties to dismiss the class-action lawsuit on 17th June 2016, having come to a mutual agreement presumably over the terms of its dismissal.
The implications of this are somewhat yet to be seen, but for now, at least, it means an ‘official’ trial of Mt. Gox in Canada will not take place. However, individuals who still feel they have been wronged can pursue their own claims, a decision many will likely make given the value of the Bitcoins stolen.
This comes after nothing had been heard regarding the class-action lawsuit since 21st April 2015, so many are likely unsurprised by the news of its dismissal. In addition, it is unsurprising in that, had the claimants chosen to pursue their case, if a verdict had been reached in favour of Mt. Gox, they would have had to pay the costs to Mt. Gox associated with the lawsuit under Canadian law, a sum that would have undoubtedly been in the millions of dollars, something the majority of claimants would most likely not want to risk.
Mt. Gox’s owner
Mark Karpeles, the owner of Mt. Gox, is no stranger to legal troubles, having been found guilty of fraud when he was tried in absentia in France in 2010; charged with embezzlement by Japanese police in August 2015, having falsified data; and accused of being the pseudonymous ‘Dread Pirate Roberts’ behind the Silk Road, although this was later proven false. Despite being sentenced to a year in jail by the French court nearly 6 years ago, he has yet to serve any of his term.