Coinlab

Coinlab was a bitcoin exchange company best known for handling North American bitcoin transactions for Mt.Gox. In 2016, it patented technology intended to deanonymize bitcoin wallets and transactions.

Established in 2011 by Peter Vessness and Mike Koss, Coinlab aimed to provide Mt.Gox, the largest bitcoin exchange at the time, with financial and investment partnerships in the US. It received venture capital funding from Roger Ver, Barry Silbert, and Tim Draper.

In 2013, Coinlab sued Mt.Gox for $75 million for breach of contract. Coinlab alleged that Mt.Gox continued to market to North American customers and did not provide Coinlab with the data and service access it needed to fulfill the terms of the agreement. Later in 2013, Mt.Gox countersued Coinlab for not being able to lawfully operate as its partner in the US.

Without reaching a settlement, Mt.Gox filed for bankruptcy in 2014 shortly after it was revealed that near 850,000 bitcoins had been stolen from its wallets. In April of 2014, Mt. Gox filed for liquidation, abandoning plans of ‘civil rehabilitation.’

In 2017, several Mt.Gox creditors filed a petition for the commencement of civil rehabilitation proceedings against Mt. Gox. with the Tokyo District Court. A judge approved the petition in 2018 and stayed the previously ongoing bankruptcy proceedings

When Mt. Gox first filed for bankruptcy, creditors filed claims as to how much they should receive in recompense. Coinlab originally claimed $75 million, the amount they had previously sued Mt. Gox for in 2013 for breach of contract. However, when civil rehabilitation proceedings commenced, creditors had to refile their claims. All other creditors refiled for their original claims except Coinlab, which reportedly increased its claim from $75 million to $16 billion. Creditors will be reportedly unable to vote on a civil rehabilitation plan until Coinlab’s claim is assessed by a bankruptcy judge, delaying the proceedings indefinitely.