Mt. Gox Set to Begin $9 Billion Bitcoin Repayment in July, Ending Decade-Long Wait
After a decade of anticipation, creditors of the defunct cryptocurrency exchange Mt. Gox are finally poised to receive their long-awaited reimbursements. The exchange’s rehabilitation trustee, Nobuaki Kobayashi, announced on Monday, June 24, 2024, that repayments in Bitcoin (BTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) will commence in early July 2024.
Mt. Gox, once the world’s largest Bitcoin exchange handling over 70% of all transactions, collapsed in 2014 following a series of hacks that resulted in the loss of 850,000 BTC. The stolen funds, worth approximately $450 million at the time, are now valued at over $51 billion at current market prices.
According to the trustee’s statement, the rehabilitation plan involves distributing approximately 142,000 BTC (worth around $9 billion) and 143,000 BCH (valued at $50.8 million), along with 69 billion Japanese yen ($432 million) in fiat currency. The repayments will be processed through designated cryptocurrency exchanges that have completed the necessary verification procedures with the trustee.
“The Rehabilitation Trustee has been preparing to make repayments in Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash under the Rehabilitation Plan. Now that these preparations are in place, the repayments will be made from the beginning of July 2024,” Kobayashi stated in the official announcement.
The news comes after years of delays and postponed deadlines, with the most recent deadline set for October 2024 by a Tokyo court. In May, the exchange moved over 140,000 BTC, worth approximately $9 billion, from cold wallets to an unknown address, marking the first on-chain wallet movements in five years.
The impending distribution has raised concerns about potential selling pressure on the cryptocurrency markets. Some traders speculate that early investors, receiving assets at a much higher value than their initial investments before 2013, may be inclined to sell at least a portion of their holdings.
Following the announcement, Bitcoin’s price experienced a slight dip, falling from over $62,300 to under $61,000 before stabilizing around the $61,000 mark.
As the rehabilitation process moves forward, the trustee has urged creditors to remain patient, emphasizing that repayments will be made in order of the cryptocurrency exchanges with which the required information has been confirmed. The announcement marks a significant milestone in one of the most prolonged and closely watched sagas in cryptocurrency history, potentially bringing closure to thousands of affected users after a decade-long wait.
