Benjamini & Co. Law office provides
Support for the Israeli victims of the Mt. Gox affair
- Japan based Mt. Gox was the first and largest cryptocurrency exchange that operated from 2010 until its collapse in 2014, following poor security and management measures and theft of most of its assets.
- At its peak, Mt. Gox was responsible for more than 70% of worldwide Bitcoin transactions. A fair number of Israelis were amongst the early adopters of Bitcoin and kept their assets at Mt. Gox.
- At the time of its collapse, Mt. Gox was left with only 20% of its customers’ assets.
- At that stage, the Japanese court appointed a trustee to manage the bankruptcy, locate the victims and repay them fairly from the remaining assets. Thus began a long process of mapping these creditors and creating a legal framework (Civil Rehabilitation) that allows returning the crypto assets as is, without converting them to fiat
Important dates and manners of repayment:
- The deadline for registering as a creditor was at the end of 2020.
- A second deadline for selecting how the repayment would be made elapsed in April 2023 – creditors were required at that time to provide bank and crypto account details, along with their preference of repayment – fiat only or fiat with crypto.
- Those who met this deadline may receive a repayment by the end of October 2023, with repayments likely continuing in the next few years as well.
- Click here for an unofficial calculator of the estimated repayment amount
Taxation:
- Receipt of any form of Mt. Gox related repayments (Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash or fiat) by Israeli residents requires preparation as it may generate tax events.
- Taxation may vary depending on asset types received, with fiat and Bitcoin Cash likely triggering an immediate tax event due to their nature. Receipt of Bitcoin may also generate a tax event, though it may be possible to classify it as a return of assets and avoid it.
- In addition, the loss of ~80% of your original assets should be examined to optimally balance the loss.
- Please note that any taxation event requires appropriate reporting according to the provisions of the Israeli Income Tax Ordinance.
Benjamini & Co. Law office represents victims of Mt. Gox and has been active in resolving taxation issues with the Israeli tax authorities. As we approach the first expected distribution date for refunds, we offer a free consultation to all Mt. Gox victims.
Click here for more information.
Click here to contact Erez Hagai CPA. by mail.