KEY POINTS
- MtGox’s ex-CEO said the trustee was moving coins ahead of the ‘distribution’ that may happen this year
- The exchange filed for bankruptcy back in 2014 after hundreds of thousands of BTC were either lost or stolen
- MtGox used to handle 70% of the world’s total Bitcoin transactions before it collapsed
Fallen Bitcoin exchange MtGox has moved over some $10 billion worth of Bitcoin as its deadline for repaying users of the defunct exchange nears, on-chain data shows.
Leading blockchain intelligence firm Arkham Intelligence was among the first to report on the massive transfers Tuesday, noting that a wallet dubbed “1Jbez” holds “almost half of the BTC that we attribute to Mt. Gox.”
$10B of Mt. Gox BTC (140K) moved over the last 7 hours
72 different Mt. Gox-linked wallets sent a total of 141,686 BTC in batches of ~2K to 1Jbez, a new wallet that received its first test transaction for $3.65 on 5/20 last week and began receiving larger transactions 8 hours… pic.twitter.com/PaBXqFrnYO
— Arkham (@ArkhamIntel) May 28, 2024
Blockchain data analysis firm Lookonchain also said that MtGox transferred 141,688 BTC worth some $9.63 billion and 142,846 Bitcoin Cash (BCH) fork tokens worth around $66.4 million across four different wallets “in preparation for repayments.”
Mark Karpelès, the former CEO of MtGox, said the exchange’s trustee was “moving coins to a different wallet in preparation of the distribution that will likely happen this year.” He made the statement amid buzz on X (formerly Twitter) regarding the massive transfers from wallets linked to the collapsed exchange. The payment customer repayment deadline has been set for Oct. 31, 2024.
As far as I know everything is fine with MtGox. The trustee is moving coins to a different wallet in preparation of the distribution that will likely happen this year, there is no imminent sale of bitcoins happening.
— Mark Karpelès (@MagicalTux) May 28, 2024
Tokyo-based MtGox filed for bankruptcy in 2014 after it lost 750,000 BTC owned by the exchange’s users and 100,000 of the then-crypto giant’s own Bitcoin stash. Some of the cryptocurrencies were lost to still unknown circumstances, while others were stolen by hackers amid the backdrop of MtGox’s weak system, which was exploited multiple times.
The exchange had reportedly started paying up customers in December, as per a Reddit thread, where several users claimed to have received payments from the collapsed BTC exchange that used to facilitate 70% of the world’s Bitcoin transactions. The exchange previously hinted that it would start repaying affected customers, but no confirmation was given regarding the supposed December payments.
Cypherpunk and BTC advocate Jameson Lopp said that the Japanese exchange’s latest movement of billions worth of its Bitcoin more than a decade after it went bankrupt “means a non-negligible number of people have literally died while waiting to get their bitcoin back.”
MTGOX is finally starting to return funds to customers over a DECADE after declaring bankruptcy.
That means a non-negligible number of people have literally died while waiting to get their bitcoin back.
Think twice before leaving your coins in someone else’s hands.
— Jameson Lopp (@lopp) May 28, 2024
Many questions remain unanswered regarding the fall of what used to be the largest Bitcoin exchange in the world. Karpelès has said he wasn’t aware that MtGox’s Bitcoins were stolen until he checked the cold wallets, but the exchange already had withdrawal problems since August 2013, as per CoinDesk.
In 2015, Karpalès was charged with embezzlement in Tokyo after he was arrested about a month earlier on allegations related to the loss of MtGox Bitcoins.
The exchange, which is also often called Mt. Gox online, has yet to announce when it will start repaying customers who lost their crypto when one of the world’s first BTC exchanges started to break down.
