Have you heard the latest buzz about Mt. Gox? This once-prominent Bitcoin exchange is back in the spotlight, making significant strides to reimburse its creditors. On Tuesday morning, Mt. Gox’s rehabilitation trustee moved over $6 billion worth of Bitcoin to new wallets, marking a major step in the repayment process.
So, what exactly happened? On-chain data reveals that Mt. Gox’s wallet transferred approximately 95,870 BTC in two transactions to newly-created addresses. The first transaction alone shifted 47,000 BTC, valued at nearly $3 billion. While the destination wallets remain unidentified, they are presumed to be part of the ongoing repayment process aimed at settling the $9 billion owed to creditors from the infamous 2014 hack.
Last week’s smaller test transfers paved the way for this larger move. Some analysts had feared that such large-scale payouts might impact Bitcoin’s price if creditors decided to sell their holdings immediately. Indeed, Bitcoin saw some dips below $64,000 as the market reacted cautiously. However, the general expectation is that most creditors will hold onto their restored coins rather than rushing to sell them.
For traders, this development is a bit nerve-wracking, but it also signifies the long-awaited closure of one of the Bitcoin industry’s most notorious episodes. The collapse of Mt. Gox in 2014 caused tens of thousands of early Bitcoin adopters to lose their holdings. Now, over eight years later, those creditors are finally seeing some of their losses being recovered.
In an exciting update, Kraken, a well-known crypto exchange, confirmed that it received the funds from Mt. Gox’s trustee. Kraken is now working to distribute these funds to the creditors, though it might take about 7-14 days for the amounts to be credited to their accounts. This process underscores Bitcoin’s resilience and the crypto community’s commitment to accountable custody and transparent transactions.
