Mt. Gox Transfers Billions of Bitcoin in Preparation for Creditor Repayments
A flurry of transactions from the defunct cryptocurrency exchange Mt. Gox has sent shockwaves through the crypto world, with billions of dollars in Bitcoin moving to various wallets.
On Tuesday, Mt. Gox transferred a staggering 48,641 BTC ($3.1 billion) to an unlabeled address, “3JQie.” This massive move followed a series of smaller transfers, including 0.021 BTC ($1,320) to an unknown address and an internal transfer of 44,000 BTC ($2.8 billion). Later in the day, another 42,588 BTC ($2.7 billion) was moved to the address “18vjn,” which was later identified as an internal Mt. Gox address by blockchain analytics firm Arkham.
The move came as Mt. Gox prepares to repay creditors nearly $9 billion in Bitcoin, following its infamous 2014 bankruptcy after a series of hacks. The exchange lost over 850,000 BTC in those hacks, a massive loss at the time.
Several companies, including Kraken, BitGo, Bitstamp, and the Japanese exchanges Bitbank and SBI VC Commerce, have been tasked with handling the distributions to creditors. Bitbank and SBI VC Commerce have already received their allocated funds and seemingly distributed them, while the other companies are still waiting to receive their funds.
The Bitcoin price dipped from around $65,000 to $63,000 in the hours surrounding the transfers, before recovering. The impact of these transactions on the Bitcoin price is still being analyzed by market experts.
This event highlights the ongoing saga of Mt. Gox and the complex process of repaying creditors after such a significant hack. It also underscores the importance of security in the cryptocurrency space and the potential impact of large-scale transfers on market sentiment.
