Bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange Mt. Gox is set to pay 142,000 bitcoins to creditors by October this year. In the meantime, Mt. Gox’s cold wallet address transferred over 140,000 bitcoins to an unknown address this morning, indicating preparations for the reimbursement process. At the same time, bitcoin has experienced significant volatility.
Summary:
Leaked screenshot suggests Mt. Gox is preparing to repay 140,000 bitcoins, will bitcoin plummet?
Background:
Worst exchange Mt. Gox faces $9.5 billion bitcoin repayment, K33 Research warns of potential BTC dump
Table of Contents:
Mt. Gox Cold Wallet Transfers 140,000 Bitcoins
Bitcoin Falls Below $67,500
Potential BTC Dump?
Cryptocurrency exchange Mt. Gox filed for bankruptcy in 2014 after losing 850,000 bitcoins to a hacking incident. Now, after a decade, the reimbursement process is accelerating, and it is expected that Mt. Gox will pay a total of 142,000 bitcoins, 143,000 BCH, and 69 billion yen to creditors by October this year.
Starting this month, Reddit users have been gradually disclosing that Mt. Gox’s Kraken BTC and BCH payment APIs show “payment in progress,” with the update date set to May 13. This indicates that Kraken is preparing for the payment, and creditors may soon receive the BTC and BCH repayments.
Earlier today, Arkham Intelligence monitoring discovered that Mt. Gox’s cold wallet transferred all 141,686 bitcoins through multiple transactions to an unknown wallet address, 1JbezDVd9VsK9o1Ga9UqLydeuEvhKLAPs6, between 9:41 and 14:07 this morning. The value of these bitcoins is approximately $9.61 billion.
Before receiving the large amount of bitcoins today, address 1Jbez… received small amounts of bitcoins from two addresses on May 20 and 28. The funds from these two addresses came from a CoinJoin address, which is a mixer for bitcoins. Although there have been no further transfers from the bitcoins received in the 1Jbez… wallet, BTC experienced a significant drop at almost the same time, reaching a low of $67,485 before the deadline, a decrease of over 4% within 12 hours.
Bitcoin’s price has increased over tenfold in the past decade. Market concerns arise as more than 140,000 bitcoins will potentially be returned to investors, causing short-term dumping and bringing volatility to the bitcoin market.
In a previous report, K33 Research stated that Mt. Gox’s repayment of 142,000 bitcoins and 143,000 BCH could “become a significant factor affecting price drops in the coming weeks.” Although it is unlikely for creditors to collectively sell their received funds, this expectation may encourage market participants to exercise caution and avoid taking risks before the event occurs.
Related Reports
After waiting for ten years, Mt. Gox exchange is repaying its debts! Will the repayment of 140,000 bitcoins cause a bitcoin crash?
Bitcoin faces massive dump from Mt. Gox! Claims announced: Unlocking 200,000 bitcoins in the next two months
Are 140,000 bitcoins being sold? Mt. Gox creditors receive yen compensation, repayment deadline extended to October 2024