Defunct bitcoin exchange Mt.Gox said it will begin distributing assets stolen from customers in a 2014 hack starting in July, after years of delayed deadlines.
JUST IN: Bankrupt Mt Gox will start with $9 billion #Bitcoin Payment of installments in July 👀 pic.twitter.com/Rph2AupnTY
– Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) June 24, 2024
“The Rehabilitation Trustee is preparing to make payments in Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash under the Rehabilitation Plan,” trustee Nobuaki Kobayashi said in a statement posted on the Mt.Gox website. Website today.
Kobayashi: “Payment will be made from the beginning of July 2024.” He added, Knowing that due diligence and safety steps are still required.
Mt.Gox was once the world’s largest bitcoin exchange, handling more than 70% of all bitcoin transactions in its early years. In 2014, hackers stole about 740,000 bitcoins, worth $15 billion today, in one of several attacks on the exchange between 2010 and 2013.
After declaring bankruptcy in 2014, Mt. Gox: Many delays in paying victims’ compensation. Last year, the Tokyo court set an October 2024 deadline for the stock exchange’s civil rehabilitation plan.
In May, the Mt. Gox more than 140,000 bitcoins, worth about $9 billion, from cold wallets for the first time in five years. These transactions are likely to be preparations for debt repayment.
Upcoming payments will be made in Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash through exchanges that have set up Mt. Gox partnered with it. It will depend on the progress of due diligence required with each platform.
Victims have waited more than a decade to recover the money they lost after the collapse of Mt. Gox. For many of them, the July start date gives them hope of finally getting their stolen savings back.
It is expected that 142,000 Bitcoin, 143,000 Bitcoin Cash, and 69 billion Japanese Yen owed to approximately 127,000 creditors will be distributed.
Although it has been long anticipated, some are concerned that the large payouts could temporarily impact the price of Bitcoin if victims sell part of their recovered funds.
However, affected users are eager to move on after the Mt. Gox hack and failure became a symbol of the early days of Bitcoin. The payouts represent a final chapter in Bitcoin’s history.