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Mt. Gox headed for bankruptcy, not rehabilitation

TOKYO (AP) — The Mt. Gox bitcoin exchange in Tokyo is headed for dissolution after a court rejected its bankruptcy protection application.

Mt. Gox said Wednesday the Tokyo District Court decided the company would not be able to resurrect itself under a business rehabilitation process filed for in February.

The exchange's CEO Mark Karpeles said then that 850,000 bitcoins, worth several hundred millions dollars were unaccounted for, blaming a weakness in the exchange's systems.

Later, some 200,000 bitcoins were found, changing the estimate for the lost virtual currency to 650,000 bitcoins although the exact amount is still under investigation.

Bitcoins were created in 2009 as a way to make transactions across borders without third parties such as banks.

Mt Gox. has suggested the bitcoins were stolen.