Mt. Gox, the bankrupt Japanese crypto exchange, has announced that it will begin repaying creditors’ Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash assets starting in July 2024. This news caused a market sell-off, with Bitcoin dipping below $61,000. The Rehabilitation Trustee, Nobuaki Kobayashi, stated that the repayments will be made to cryptocurrency exchanges with which the Trustee has completed the necessary information exchange. The exchange is set to refund over $8 billion worth of 142,000 BTC and 143,000 BCH to creditors.
The trustee assured that Mt. Gox had taken the necessary time to ensure a safe and reliable repayment process, including technical remedies for secure transactions, compliance with financial regulations in various countries, and discussions with cryptocurrency exchanges on repayment arrangements. Users of the defunct exchange were urged to be patient and wait for the repayments to be made. This development is positive news for creditors who have been waiting for almost a decade to recover their assets after Mt. Gox suffered a massive hack in 2014, resulting in the loss of 850,000 Bitcoin, now valued at over $57 billion.
Following the hack, Mt. Gox filed for bankruptcy and started rehabilitation proceedings in 2018 to compensate creditors. Legal issues have plagued the process, causing prolonged uncertainty for users regarding the recovery of their funds. However, progress was made last year when the firm issued some repayments, including reports of some creditors receiving double payments. Speculations about Bitcoin repayments began last month when the trustee’s assets movements were noted within five years for the first time.
Initially, there were rumors that the trustee was selling off its substantial Bitcoin holdings of around 140,000 BTC worth $9 billion. However, the trustee clarified that the transactions were part of preparations for the repayments to creditors. This announcement signifies a significant step forward for creditors who have been waiting for years to recover their assets from the defunct Mt. Gox exchange. With the repayment process set to begin in 2024, creditors can finally look forward to receiving their long-awaited refunds.
