Mt. Gox Is Finally Repaying Customers, So Why Are Bitcoin Investors Nervous?
Failed bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox will finally begin returning bitcoin (BTCUSD) to customers in July 2024, almost a decade after a massive hack forced it into bankruptcy.
The number of bitcoins headed toward former customers is still not certain and could range from 65,000 per one estimate to as much as 140,000 based on addresses connected to Mt. Gox, which at the upper end could be worth nearly $9 billion.
That sudden supply hitting the markets has bitcoin investors worried about lower prices. Bitcoin, while on the downtrend in general, slid further Monday to below $61,000 as of noon ET.
Mt. Gox, which once accounted for roughly 70% of the world's bitcoin trading, was hacked multiple times between 2011 and 2014 and thousands of bitcoins went missing, setting off a long process of customers trying to get their crypto or money back. The exchange declared bankruptcy in 2014.
The long-awaited distribution of Mt. Gox customer funds comes after years of delays; however, Rehabilitation Trustee Nobuaki Kobayashi stated that preparations for these repayments are well underway, ensuring all necessary safety measures are in place before the distribution commences.
In addition to bitcoin, former customers will also receive Bitcoin Cash, as the alternative cryptocurrency was launched as a "hard fork" of bitcoin in 2017, which means all bitcoin holders at the time received an equivalent amount of Bitcoin Cash. This development follows a substantial transfer of over 140,000 bitcoin from cold wallets to an unknown address in May, marking the first movement in five years.
The impending repayments are anticipated by some to exert selling pressure on both bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash markets.
«That’s like over half of all the ETF inflows
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