Nobuaki Kobayashi, Bankruptcy Trustee, who is overseeing the bankruptcy case for the now defunct MtGox bitcoin exchange, has released a statement saying he will not be releasing the list of bitcoin addresses controlled by MtGox, The Merkle reported.
Kobayashi said that he had been arranging for the release of the list of bitcoin addresses, aiming to facilitate the investigation of the root causes of bankruptcy of the bitcoin exchange. However, having identified “material risks” of endangering personal information or the privacy of users in releasing the list, Kobayashi said that it was decided not to go ahead with the plan.
“As a result, the trustee has come to believe that the potential negative effect resulting from the release of the addresses would be much more detrimental compared to the degree of benefits that can be gained thereby, and, therefore, has concluded that we suspend the release”, the document read.
However, Kobayashi said that they plan to announce the result of the investigation conducted with the support of Payward Group, parent company of Kraken, in “a manner, at the timing, and with content, that the trustee believes to be appropriate”.
Earlier this year, Kobayashi released a report stating that amount of bitcoin managed by the bankruptcy estate as of February 9, 2016 is 202,163.41 BTC, adding that investigations were still underway to determine the bitcoins held by MtGox.
MtGox, founded in 2010, was the leading bitcoin exchange based in Japan and by 2013 it was handling nearly 70% of all bitcoin transactions. However, in February 2014, the company suspended trading with CEO Mark Karpeles saying that the problem stemmed from "transaction malleability", and subsequently the website as well as exchange service was shut down and MtGox filed for a form of bankruptcy protection from creditors.
At the time of the company's collapse, around 744,400 BTC (then worth $340m) was reported missing. Karpeles said he found some 200,000 of the lost coins in cold wallet later; however, speculations were high on insider involvement.
In November 2014, Kraken was selected to assist Tokyo District Court-appointed Trustee Nobuaki Kobayashi in the bankruptcy investigation of missing Bitcoin, receiving claims and distributing remaining assets to creditors of MtGox.
