- Mt. Gox customers could start to get some of their bitcoin back as early as next month
- The exchange’s trustee published a letter on Wednesday saying that payments were being prepared
- Former customers are set to receive about 16% of their holdings
The Mt. Gox trustee, Nobuaki Kobayashi, has said that he is preparing to make a series of repayments to creditors users more than eight years after the exchange closed its doors. In a letter published on Wednesday, Kobayashi said that he is “currently preparing to make repayments” to the tens of thousands of creditors who have jumped through numerous legal hoops in order to get back a portion of what they are owed after the exchange collapsed in 2014 following years of undetected thefts. Some ₿850,000 was stolen from the exchange, with ₿141,686 recovered and able to be returned to customers, alongside the BCH that resulted from the 2017 hard fork and cash from sales of BTC.
Mt. Gox Bitcoin Could be Returned Next Month
The agreement over the Mt. Gox repayments was made official in November 2021 after years of back and forth over priority of creditors, method of repayment, and much more. Wednesday’s letter takes a payout one step closer, with recipients given a choice of a lump-sum payment or to receive a portion of their claims in the form of either BTC or BCH.
Kobayashi has also set a Restriction Reference Period from the end of August until “all or part of the repayments made as initial repayments are completed.” This means that a glut of bitcoin could theoretically hit the market next month, causing some individuals and outlets to predict an imminent crash in the price of bitcoin.
However, as we have previously outlined, there are many reasons why this will probably not happen, a case that is strengthened further by the fact that Bitcoin is now in a bear market and, apart from those who need money urgently, the majority are not going to sell at the bottom of a bear market.
Kobayashi also warns that payouts could be “delayed significantly” if recipients change If rehabilitation claims are transferred during the Assignment or if other alterations are made to a claim.
