Fortress Investment Group to buy Mt Gox creditor bitcoin claims: Report

Softbank Group-owned private equity firm Fortress Investment Group is buying bitcoin claims from the creditors of the now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange Mt Gox, CoinDesk reported.

Mt Gox, which was once the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange, filed for bankruptcy in 2014 after it lost around 850,000 bitcoin in a series of hacks. Last year, a Japanese District Court stopped bankruptcy proceedings and sent the exchange into “civil rehabilitation,” meaning that the company’s assets would be distributed to the creditors and not liquidated, TechCrunch reported.

Michael Hourigan, a managing director at Fortress Investment Group, has recently sent out a letter to the creditors saying that he is purchasing bitcoin claims for an investment vehicle operated by the New York-based firm.

According to the screenshot of the letter, Hourigan wrote:

“I manage an investment vehicle which has been buying Mt.Gox creditor claims. Our investors are long-term oriented, so they are comfortable holding on until the matter is resolved in Japanese court. I’m particularly interested in Mt.Gox because I am a cryptocurrency investor personally.”

Further explaining the purchase terms, he said:

“We review each claim individually but are now generally able to offer $900 per BTC claim, or roughly 200% of the bankruptcy value (which was $451 per BTC claim). We can pay that in Bitcoin, or any fiat currency of your choice. Our payment would be made within 10 business days of the claim transfer confirmation.”

Meanwhile, former Mt Gox CEO Mark Karpeles has started a new tech firm Tristan Technologies Co. Speaking to The Block, Karpeles had clarified that the firm is working on cloud solutions and not blockchain technology.