Bitcoin Forum

This news is from the Wall Street Journal.

TOKYO—Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox said Friday it was filing for bankruptcy protection after losing almost 750,000 of its customers' bitcoins, marking the collapse of a marketplace that once dominated trading in the virtual currency.
The company said it also lost around 100,000 of its own bitcoins. Together, the lost bitcoins would be worth approximately $473 million at market prices charted by the CoinDesk bitcoin index, although the price of Mt. Gox bitcoin had fallen well below that index after it stopped bitcoin withdrawals in early February. (See a timeline of the virtual currency.)

Speaking to reporters at Tokyo District Court Friday after the bankruptcy filing, Mt. Gox owner Mark Karpelès said technical issues had opened the way for fraudulent withdrawals, and he apologized to customer

"There was some weakness in the system, and the bitcoins have disappeared. I apologize for causing trouble," Mr. Karpelès said during a packed news conference at the Tokyo District Court press club.

The company's lawyer said at the news conference that Mt. Gox had outstanding debt of about ¥6.5 billion ($63.6 million) with assets worth ¥3.84 billion.

Prices on the CoinDesk index, which tracks the Bitstamp and BTC-e bitcoin exchanges, fell slightly after the announcement but appeared to stave off a larger drop.

Mr. Karpelès, wearing a gray suit and a blue tie, appeared calm while his lawyer did most of the talking, but he appeared to have difficulty finding words when reporters asked him to send a message to his investors, just repeating his apology.