Mt. Gox Transfers $840M in BTC Ahead of Creditor Payout
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Mt. Gox transferred 12.24k BTC, worth approximately $840 million, to an unmarked address today. This is part of a bigger plan to redistribute the remaining assets to its creditors before October 31, 2024. The latest development in the long-drawn saga of the defunct crypto exchange marks a key moment.
Major Transfers and Implications
According to Arkham Intelligence, Mt. Gox has moved 12,240 BTC to the address 1JbezD.KLAPs6, leaving the wallet with 137.892k BTC. In addition, Mt. Gox made subsequent transfers of 14.05k BTC and 16.589k BTC, totaling around $1.14 billion, to the same unmarked address.
Mt. Gox is preparing to distribute 142,000 BTC, 143,000 BCH, and 69 billion Japanese yen to creditors. This is to compensate for the massive losses from a cyber-attack in 2014, which led to the loss of 750,000 BTC from customers’ wallets and an additional 100,000 BTC from the exchange funds.
Market Reactions
After the transfer, Bitcoin’s price slightly turned downward, dropping below $68,500 from over $70,600. Some market observers have speculated that the large-scale release of BTC could trigger a sell-off, depressing Bitcoin’s price. However, some think it is a possibility that Bitcoin maximalists might hedge against sell-off effects to keep the market stable.
Mt. Gox was founded in 2010 and was the largest Bitcoin exchange, handling 70% of all transactions worldwide. The platform’s downfall began in 2014 after it stopped trading and filed for bankruptcy following the loss of over 800,000 BTC due to a devastating cyber-attack.
Since then, legal complications in Japan have left the victims without restitution. Although 200,000 BTC was recovered, compensating creditors has been sluggish and tortuous. The latest transfers mark the first movement of significant assets out of Mt. Gox wallets in five years.
Future Outlook
The critical Mt. Gox deadline for the upcoming distribution of BTC and BCH to creditors is October 31, 2024. The market is watching how these movements would impact the price of Bitcoin and the cryptocurrency market as a whole. With the trustee working to settle the remaining claims, the overall impact on the market is yet to be seen.
