Coinspeaker
Mt. Gox Transfers $2.7B in Anticipation for Customer Repayment
Defunct cryptocurrency exchange Mt. Gox is still preparing for its massive repayment to customers who suffered losses from scammers’ attacks almost a decade ago. According to blockchain analytics platform Arkham Intelligence, a Bitcoin (BTC) wallet linked with the exchange transferred $2.7 billion worth of Bitcoin to an unknown address. Notably, there was an initial transfer of 0.021 BTC to an unknown address.
Mt. Gox Refund Plan Revived after 10 Years
The first Bitcoin movement is suspected to be a test transfer before the bigger holding was offloaded. These sorts of transfers have recently become regular as Mt. Gox revived the talks about the repayment of affected customers which includes Blockstream CEO Adam Back. At the beginning of this month, more than 47,000 BTC were transferred from the crypto exchange’s address to new wallets.
Earlier in March, the firm made a move to commence the repayment and even allied with other crypto exchanges. At the time, crypto exchange BitGo noted it would take up to 20 days for the repayment to be processed. Kraken exchange, on the other hand, acknowledged payments may take up to 90 days to be processed. The plan was to start paying customers from March 10 but it never happened.
Then in May, some five-year dormant Bitcoin addresses associated with Mt. Gox began to show signs of activity. On-chain data showed that more than 141,686 Bitcoins were moved from these addresses associated with the exchange to unknown addresses within 24 hours.
The huge movement caused the prices of many crypto assets including Bitcoin to plunge during that period.
Mt. Gox Makes Batch of Repayment
As the first half of the year drew to an end, Mt. Gox intensified efforts towards the repayment, stating that it would begin in July. Even the Rehabilitation Trustee Nobuaki Kobayashi wrote on the Mt. Gox website that “the Rehabilitation Trustee has been preparing to make repayments in Bitcoin (BTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) under the Rehabilitation Plan”. He added that the preparations are finally in place.
Kobayashi emphasized that the result from due diligence and other procedures are core to the repayment of customers. The crypto exchanges that would be involved in the process were described as those that have completed the exchange and confirmed of required information for implementing the repayment.
By July 4, it was reported that Mt. Gox made repayments in Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash to some creditors through different crypto exchanges. Other customers were asked to exercise patience until all conditions and criteria were met before it processed their repayment request. Noteworthy, the latest transfer may be in preparation for the next bout of payments.
The effect that such huge transfers usually have on the broader crypto market is a source of concern to many. When the first repayment was conducted, Bitcoin price plunged more than 8% within 24 hours, hovering around $54,000. In the meantime, no substantial negative change has been recorded as Bitcoin is currently trading at $62,648.33 with only a 0.28% drop.
Mt. Gox Transfers $2.7B in Anticipation for Customer Repayment
