72 wallet addresses have sent over 141,000 Mt. Gox Bitcoin to an unknown address in the last 24 hours.
According to Arkham Intelligence, the transactions happened in batches of 2,000 BTC. The newly created wallet, which received its first test transaction on May 20, now holds nearly half of all the Bitcoin attributed to the Mt.Gox hack.
Mt.Gox Bitcoin on the Move
The recent transfer of Bitcoin to being consolidated in a single wallet indicates that Mt.Gox users might finally get their funds back. Users who had accounts on the exchange before it collapsed have been unable to access their coins since 2014.
The transfer marks the first time BTC associated with the defunct exchange has moved on the blockchain in five years. The transfer also comes a few months to October 2024, when the exchange said it planned to repay creditors.
Mt. Gox has played a crucial role in the history of Bitcoin. The exchange became operational in 2010, handling most Bitcoin transactions. However, after a few years in operation, hackers stole nearly all of the Bitcoin held by users on the exchange, resulting in bankruptcy in 2014.
Some of the stolen Bitcoins were recovered later. However, they are now only available to users because of the legal issues faced in Japan. Moreover, the US government also attributed the hacking incident to two Russian hackers.
Creditors to Start Getting Their Bitcoin Back
The Mt.Gox exchange is nearing the completion of the process to reimburse users for all Bitcoins. The exchange plans to distribute Bitcoin to former users by the end of October this year.
The Mt.Gox rehabilitation trustee, Nobuaki Kobayahi, has already confirmed that consolidating funds into a single wallet is part of the exchange’s plan to begin giving creditors back their money.
In a May 28 blog post, Kobayashi said that the Rehabilitation Trustee was already laying down the plans for rehabilitation. Still, it would take a while before all the reimbursements were made.
The Rehabilitation Trustee is preparing to make repayment for the portion of cryptocurrency rehabilitation claims to which cryptocurrency is allocated…” Kobayashi said.
As the Rehabilitation Trustee is proceeding with the preparation for the above repayments, please wait for a while until the repayments are made.
The reimbursements will include initial, mid-sized, and lump-sum payments. While the news is positive for the exchange users, it has created anxiety among crypto traders who believe it will trigger a price drop in Bitcoin.
Bitcoin is already reacting to the news. The coin retraces the gains after breaking past the $70K level yesterday. The king of cryptos was trading at $68,238 as of 08:08 a.m. EST. If the released BTC ignites selling pressure, BTC could trade lower.
