????2月28日星期五，比特幣交易平臺Mt. Gox根據日本《民事再生法》【Civil Rehabilitation (MinjiSaisei) code】向法院遞交了破產申請，宣布已經破產，同時向債權人尋求保護。這家公司在官方網站上發表聲明稱，公司希望進行重組，繼續運營，“以提高向債權人的還款。”

????倫敦的另一家比特幣交易服務商Selachii LLP公司聞訊立即召集了一群受害者向Mt. Gox公司發起了集體訴訟，指控它涉嫌嚴重過失和詐騙。美國伊利諾斯地區法院也接到了針對Mt. Gox的詐騙訴訟。由于這次Mt. Gox造成的損失高達5億美元，全球各地的法院無疑還會接到更多類似的訴訟案件。

????這種民事訴訟還是很必要的，原因不是很明顯，但也很簡單：Mt. Gox的失誤導致成千上萬人委托給其交易的比幣特和合法貨幣蒙受了損失。但這些人不是債權人，Mt. Gox的破產程序不能直接幫助他們挽回損失的財產。

????就像大多數破產程序一樣，Mt. Gox的民事重組只能解決債務問題，包括貸款、未償還的服務債務以及投資。由于Mt. Gox背后沒有像美國聯邦存款保險公司（FDIC）這種為存款提供保險的金融機構支持，因此在這種情況下，民事訴訟成了儲戶能追回損失的唯一一條明顯的途徑。

????民事重組之路

????東京Anderson, Mori &Tomotsune公司的永井一彰（音譯）指出，日本的民事再生程序與美國破產法第11章的重組程序有很多共性，Mt. Gox下一步首先要等待民事再生申請的司法批準。“在標準情況下，是否受理的決定從申請之日起一周的時間就能下來”，也就是，說可能3月7號星期五就能有結果。不過，永井一彰也表示：“這個案子的情況很復雜，所以可能要多花些時間。”

????同時，也不能排除法官最終不批準民事再生的可能——比如如果真的存在明顯的欺詐證據，或者如果法官認為重組計劃不太可能被債權人投票通過的話。

????法院批準Mt. Gox民事重組申請的時機也會產生重大的影響，因為根據日本《民再事生法》第124條規定，它所承擔的債務會按重組開始時的市值進行登記。這給Mt. Gox兜頭澆了一盆冷水，因為Mt. Gox公司一份泄露出來的《危機策略方案》文件中曾提到，這家公司還癡心妄想用跌到谷底的內部價格為債務估值。另外自Mt. Gox申請破產重組以來，比特幣的價格又回升了大約20%，因此大大提升了Mt.Gox未償債務的價值。

????不過，《民事再生法》第124條也允許法院在公司重組過程中按照持續經營基準裁定其債務估值。考慮到比特幣幣值近年來的波動性，這意味著Mt. Gox的債務可能會越還越高，但反過來，假如比特幣這個概念在“蒸發門”之類的打擊下徹底崩盤的話，這些債務也有可能會縮水到幾乎一文不值。

????一旦民事重組申請獲得批準，Mt. Gox就要提交一份重組方案，其中包括向債權人償還債務的方案。與此同時，債權人則需要提供詳細的債務證明，一方面是為了證明債權關系，另一方面也是為了獲得重組方案的投票權。

????On Friday, Feb.28, the bitcoinexchangeMt.Gox filed for bankruptcy under Japan's Civil Rehabilitation (MinjiSaisei) code, revealing that it was insolvent and seeking protection from creditors. On its website, the firm stated that it hoped to restructure and continue in business "in order to increase repayments to our creditors."

????Almost immediately, the London-based firm Selachii LLP, which has provided services to many bitcoin businesses, began assembling a class action lawsuit against the management of Mt.Gox on the basis of suspected negligence and fraud. A similar fraud suit has been filed in the Illinois District Court in the United States. More cases will almost certainly be filed as the international legal system attempts to process the loss of nearly half a billion dollars in investments.

????The civil suits are necessary for a simple but not quite obvious reason: The tens of thousands of people whose bitcoin or fiat currency were held and then apparently lost by Mt.Gox are not creditors, and the bankruptcy process will not directly help them regain their property.

????As with most bankruptcy processes, civil rehabilitation will address only debt obligations including loans, outstanding service debts, and investments. In the absence of any FDIC-like backing, civil litigation is the only apparent path for depositor recovery.

????The path to civil rehabilitation

????The civil rehabilitation process has many commonalities with American Chapter 11 restructuring. According to Kazuaki Nagai of the Tokyo firm Anderson, Mori &Tomotsune, the immediate next step will be judicial approval of the filing for civil rehabilitation. "In the standard case, the decision is made one week from the date of petition," which means it could come as quickly as Friday, March 7. However, Nagai warns, "In this case, it's very complicated, [so] it may take more time."

????There is also the chance that a judge may deny the application for civil rehabilitation -- if, for example, there is patent evidence of fraud, or if it is judged unlikely that a voting body of creditors would approve a restructuring plan.

????The timing of any acceptance of Mt.Gox's application for civil rehabilitation will have major implications because, according to Article 124 of Japan's civil rehabilitation code, liabilities may be registered at market values when rehabilitation commences. This throws cold water on Mt.Gox's delusional habit of valuing its obligations at its rock-bottom internal price (referenced in the leaked 'Crisis Strategy Draft' document). Moreover, the price of bitcoin has recovered by around 20% since the initial filing, vastly increasing Gox's outstanding liabilities.

????However, Article 124 also allows the court to order that valuation of liabilities be made on a continuing basis as the company restructures. Given bitcoin's volatility in recent years, this could leave a restructured Mt. Gox chasing an ever-mounting pile of obligations to bitcoin-denominated creditors – or it could mean those debts shrink to nearly nothing, if bitcoin collapses under the weight of failures like Mt. Gox's own.

????Once the filing for civil rehabilitation is approved, Mt.Gox will be expected to assemble a proposal for restructuring, including proposed repayments for creditors. At the same time, creditors will need to file details of what they are owed, both to establish claims and to gain voting rights over the proposal.