Mt. Gox Shifts $2.2 Billion In Bitcoin To New Wallets Amid Repayment Deadline Extension
Early Monday, an address associated with the defunct exchange Mt. Gox transferred its largest Bitcoin batch in months, roughly a few weeks after extending its repayment deadline.
Mt. Gox Makes 32,371 BTC Transfer
According to on-chain data, the collapsed Japanese crypto exchange Mt. Gox shifted 32,371 BTC, worth around $2.19 billion, to three new wallet addresses on Monday.
Out of the $2.2 billion, blockchain analytics platform Arkham Intelligence revealed that the majority 30,371 BTC was sent to wallet address 1FG2CRveoy. An additional 2,000 BTC was initially moved to a Mt. Gox cold wallet before being moved to a separate unmarked wallet 15gNRa8Aok.
The transfer on Monday, the largest seen from Mt. Gox in months, came just a couple of days after the exchange sent 500 BTC to two new wallets. This was the first movement from Mt. Gox since the end of September.
Its unclear why the Bitcoin was transferred. However, the flagship crypto slid to as low as $66,853 ahead of the United States presidential election slated for later in the day in U.S. morning hours. The alpha crypto has since recouped the losses, trading at $69,573 as of press time.
Repayment To Creditors Postponed Until October 2025
The Trustee managing Mt. Gox put together a repayment plan that has been in the works for several years. Mt. Goxs repayments are largely considered bearish catalysts, adding severe selling pressure on Bitcoins price as early investors will receive assets at a much higher value than their entries before 2013, meaning that numerous creditors will likely look to sell at least a part of their holdings on the open market.
Mt. Gox started repaying nearly $9 billion of recovered assets to creditors this July after a decade of waiting and court battles in Japan. There is still 44,378 BTC worth around $3.05 billion sitting in Mt. Gox-flagged addresses, according to Arkham.
Notably, the timing of this latest transfer coincides with Mt. Goxs recent announcement that it is postponing its repayment timeline from Oct. 31, 2024, to Oct. 31, 2025. The Mt. Gox trustee cited system issues, resulting in some users receiving double deposits. The exchange later acknowledged the error and urged users to return the overpaid funds.
This extension affects thousands of creditors who lost their assets following a major security breach on the exchange in 2014, which resulted in the loss of at least 850,000 BTC (worth more than $15 billion at current prices).
Text source: ZyCrypto
