Defunct bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox said it would begin distributing assets stolen to customers in a 2014 hack starting in July, after years of postponed deadlines.
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JUST IN: Mt. Gox bankruptcy to start with $9 billion twitter.com/hashtag/bitcoin?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#bitcoin refunds in July pic.twitter.com/Rph2AupnTY
– bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) twitter.com/BitcoinMagazine/status/1805187711478706237?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>June 24, 2024
“The Rehabilitation Trustee has been preparing to make payments in bitcoin and bitcoin Cash under the Rehabilitation Plan,” said trustee Nobuaki Kobayashi in a statement posted on Mt. Gox. website today.
“Refunds will be made from early July 2024,” Kobayashi aggregate, noting that due diligence and safety measures are still required.
Mt. Gox was once the largest bitcoin exchange in the world and handled over 70% of all bitcoin transactions in its early years. In 2014, hackers stole around 740,000 bitcoins, currently worth $15 billion, in one of many attacks on the exchange between 2010 and 2013.
After filing for bankruptcy in 2014, Mt. Gox has faced numerous delays in paying victims. Last year, the Tokyo court set a deadline of October 2024 for the exchange's civil rehabilitation plan.
In May, Mt. Gox moved more than 140,000 btc, worth around $9 billion, from cold wallets for the first time in five years. The transactions were likely preparations for refunds.
Upcoming payments will be made in bitcoin and bitcoin Cash through exchanges that Mt. Gox has partnered with. The order will depend on the progress of the due diligence required with each platform.
Victims have waited more than ten years to recover funds lost when Mt. Gox collapsed. For many, this July start date finally offers hope of recovering stolen savings.
The repayments are expected to distribute 142,000 bitcoins, 143,000 bitcoins in cash and 69 billion Japanese yen owed to about 127,000 creditors.
While long expected, some are concerned that the large payouts could momentarily impact the price of bitcoin if victims sell some of the returned funds.
However, affected users are eager to move on after the Mt. Gox hack and failure became a symbol of bitcoin's early days. The refunds represent a final chapter in the history of bitcoin.
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