Mt. Gox Moves $2.2 Billion in Bitcoin Ahead of Extended Repayment Deadline
The defunct cryptocurrency exchange Mt. Gox has transferred a massive $2.2 billion worth of Bitcoin (BTC) to unmarked wallet addresses. This move comes just a week after the exchange announced an extension to its repayment timeline for creditors who lost funds during the platform’s collapse in 2014.
According to data from blockchain analytics firm Arkham, Mt. Gox transferred over 32,000 BTC to two separate wallets. The majority of the funds, around 30,400 BTC, were sent to the wallet address “1FG2C…Rveoy,” while an additional 2,000 BTC was initially moved to a Mt. Gox cold wallet before being transferred to the wallet “15gNR…a8Aok.”
This latest transfer marks the largest movement of funds from Mt. Gox in several months. Past similar transfers have often preceded the distribution of assets to creditors through centralized cryptocurrency exchanges like Bitstamp and Kraken.
The timing of this transfer is particularly significant, as it comes just a week after Mt. Gox announced it was extending its repayment deadline from October 2024 to October 2025. This extension affects the over 127,000 creditors who lost funds when the exchange collapsed in 2014 following a series of hacks and security breaches.
The Mt. Gox collapse was a pivotal moment in the early history of Bitcoin, with the exchange once handling over 70% of all global BTC transactions before its demise. The loss of an estimated 850,000 BTC, worth over $15 billion at current prices, was a significant setback for the industry.
While the pending repayments from Mt. Gox have long been a source of concern for traders, fearing a potential sell-off that could impact Bitcoin’s price, the extension of the deadline may help alleviate some of these fears. Additionally, many creditors have opted to receive their funds in BTC rather than fiat, suggesting they may hold onto their allocations rather than immediately selling.
Nonetheless, the market remains wary of the potential impact of these BTC movements, with traders anticipating heightened volatility in the coming weeks, potentially driven by factors such as the upcoming U.S. elections. The cryptocurrency industry and its participants will continue to closely monitor the developments around the long-running Mt. Gox saga.
