Brit Bitcoin dev: I lost 'over £200k' when MtGox popped its socks

A leading British Bitcoin dev who claims to have lost more than £200,000 in the collapse of MtGox says he has written to Japanese police asking them to take action.

Under the name Rebroad, Richard Broadley is one of the world's top cryptocurrency software developers, placed as the 12th most active contributor to the Bitcoin protocol.

All in all, he claimed to have lost £70,000, 500,000 baht (£9,200) and 450 Bitcoins worth £157,500 at the current exchange rate of just under £350 per coin.

He is one of a number of people who contacted The Reg to ask what to do if they had lost their Bitcoins or various deposited currencies after the Gox exchange fell over.

However, all the others reported smaller losses than Broadley, who told us he'd had a large and longstanding investment in the exchange.

All the Bitcoins and fiat currency held in MtGox are being withheld and there are no plans to allow concerned customers to access them.

The exchange now says 850,000 Bitcoins altogether have disappeared - worth about $429m.

The British dev hopes that law enforcement agents will take action, even though it is not yet clear who is to blame for the slow leak which MtGox attributed to "illicit movement through the abuse of [a transaction malleability] bug".

But Broadley said he'd shared information with officials in Japan about his understanding of the protocol. The dev told El Reg: "I have contacted Japanese authorities to see if I can progress this, but of course, I would welcome any advice and support that might be available."

The Tokyo Metropolitan Police have said they are looking into the case, but have provided no updates over the past four days.

Just over a week ago, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a news conference that: "At this stage the relevant financial authorities, the police, the Finance Ministry and others are gathering information on the case," Reuters reported.

Meanwhile, US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Preet Bharara, has also sent off subpoenas to MtGox.

Broadley might want to contact the London law firm Selachii LLP, which is preparing to launch a class action against MtGox on behalf over 400 clients from around the world.

Richard Howlett, partner at the law firm, said: "It will [all] come out in court.”

Do you know anything about what happened at MtGox? Get in touch and let us know. ®