Mt. Gox, the struggling Japanese bitcoin exchange,
    has filed for bankruptcy protection in a U.S. court
    to stop customers from freezing any of the company's
    assets that are located on U.S. soil.
    
    Lawyers put MtGox Co. Ltd. into Chapter 15 protection
    in Texas on Sunday, stating that a potential
    class-action lawsuit in Illinois could get in the
    way of reorganization efforts that are taking place
    in the company's home country.
    
    Mt. Gox, an exchange for buyers and sellers of the
    digital currency known as bitcoin, halted customer
    withdrawals on Feb. 7, later stating that it lost
    almost 750,000 of its customers' bitcoins and around
    100,000 of its own.
    
    "This theft or disappearance is currently the subject
    of an intense investigation which required Mt. Gox
    to devote most of its resources," Mt. Gox lawyers wrote
    in court papers.
    
    In the potential class-action lawsuit, lawyers are
    trying to round up U.S. residents who paid a fee to
    Mt. Gox to buy, sell or trade bitcoin, according to
    court papers filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Dallas.
    As part of that lawsuit, lawyers are expected to ask
    Tuesday during a court hearing for the power to freeze
    any of Mt. Gox's U.S. assets, which include any servers
    or other computer equipment that stores customer
    information about bitcoins.
    
    It is unclear what assets—if any—Mt. Gox has in the U.S.
    Still, the U.S. bankruptcy halts existing lawsuits, at
    least temporarily.
    
    More specifically, Chapter 15 of the U.S. Bankruptcy
    Code is available to foreign companies that have sought
    protection of their home courts.
    
    Mt. Gox filed for bankruptcy protection in Japan last
    month. Participating in the U.S. lawsuits at this
    point "would wastefully divert resources away from"
    the Japanese bankruptcy, Mt. Gox lawyers wrote in
    court papers.
    
    The company's lawyers said that Mt. Gox's debts
    totaled 6.5 billion yen ($63.9 million) versus
    assets of 3.84 billion yen.
    
    Mt. Gox hired the Baker & McKenzie law firm to
    represent it in bankruptcy. The company's case,
    numbered 14-31229, has been assigned to Judge
    Stacey G. Jernigan.
    
    —Jacqueline Palank contributed to this article.
    
    Write to Katy Stech at [email protected]