Defunct Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox’s ex-CEO claimed in a statement April 4 that he “doesn’t want” the 160,000 BTC ($1.12 bln) that will be left after the exchange repays its creditors.
As part of a Reddit Ask Me Anything (AMA) session Wednesday, Mark Karpeles said that he found the billion dollar windfall, which will come about as a result of Japanese bankruptcy procedures, to be “distasteful”.
“The way bankruptcy law works [in Japan] is that if there are any assets remaining after the creditors have been paid in full, then those assets are distributed to shareholders as part of the liquidation,” he explained in introductory comments.
“That's the only way any bankruptcy law can reasonably work. And yet, in this case, it produces an egregiously distasteful outcome in that the shareholders of MtGox would walk away with the value of over 160,000 bitcoin as a result of what happened.
I don't want this. I don't want this billion dollars.”
Karpeles has presided over the long process of refunding users who lost funds during Mt. Gox’s infamous hack in 2014.
After being released on bail, the Frenchman has periodically appeared in the press and online to answer queries from the cryptocurrency community.
Criticism of both Karpeles and the refund process intensified in recent months after it came to light a board trustee was selling vast amounts of Bitcoin on mainstream exchanges. The volumes were so large that suspicions remain the sales unfairly influenced Bitcoin prices across the globe.
Wednesday’s AMA similarly saw its share of Karpeles detractors, some levelling criticism due to their questions remaining answered for long periods.