Mt. Gox Moves Another $2.5B of Bitcoin
Mt. Gox, the defunct cryptocurrency exchange, has transferred 37,477 Bitcoin (BTC), valued at approximately $2.5 billion, to an unidentified wallet address. The transaction follows a similar transaction moving $2.7 billion of Bitcoin.
Data from blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence shows that this transaction occurred on July 24 at 4:53 am UTC. Of the transferred amount, 5,106 BTC were subsequently moved to a separate cold storage wallet owned by Mt. Gox.
This transfer follows closely on the heels of another significant movement of funds by the exchange. On July 22, Mt. Gox shifted $2.8 billion in BTC to multiple wallets, with $340 million directed to four wallets linked to Bitstamp, one of five exchanges collaborating with the Mt. Gox trustee to reimburse creditors.
According to CryptoQuant data shared by Cointelegraph, approximately 40% of the Bitcoin owed to Mt. Gox creditors has been distributed so far. This leaves about 60%, or roughly $5.6 billion, yet to be returned.
The Mt. Gox saga stems from a major security breach in 2014, which led to the exchange’s collapse. Around 127,000 creditors have been waiting over a decade to recover their funds, totaling about $9 billion worth of Bitcoin.
Impact on the markets
While some fear these repayments could trigger a mass sell-off, several analysts suggest these concerns may be exaggerated. Alex Thorne, head of research at Galaxy Digital, noted in a recent tweet that much of those assets are unlikely to directly impact the spot market:
Creditors have been stuck in mt gox bankruptcy for 10+ yrs–finally trustee says in-kind distribution of #BTC #BCH will begin in July. we think fewer coins will be distributed than people think & that it will cause less #bitcoin sell pressure than market expects
Thorne also speculates that individual creditors might not immediately sell their recovered funds, suggesting many Mt. Gox creditors may have a “diamond-handed” approach to their assets.
Some market observers believe that much of Mt. Gox’s potential impact on Bitcoin prices has already been factored into the market. They argue that the worst of Bitcoin’s price fluctuations related to this event may have already passed.
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