Mt. Gox moves $2.7B in Bitcoin to new wallet address

Cointelegraph2024/07/05 06:10

By:Tom Mitchelhill

Update July 5, 5:41am UTC: This article has been updated to include data concerning the subsequent transfers to Bitbank.

The collapsed Japanese crypto exchange Mt. Gox has transferred 47,229 Bitcoin — worth $2.71 billion at current prices — to a new wallet address in its first major transaction since May.

According to blockchain analytics platform Arkham Intelligence, the exchange transferred the Bitcoin at 12:30 am UTC on July 5 out from “cold storage."

Mt. Gox has made several smaller test transactions in recent months. Source: Arkham Intelligence

The movement comes amid the exchange’s scheduled plan to begin repaying creditors this month. A total of $8.5 billion worth of Bitcoin is slated to be paid back to creditors.

At 4:15 am UTC on July 5, Mt. Gox moved 1,545 BTC to the hot wallet of an exchanged called Bitbank, one of the crypto exchanges supporting the repayment process.

Mt Gox informed creditors that it had completed all the necessary steps to start begin issuing repayments beginning in July, according to a June 24 statement from Mt. Gox trustee Nobuaki Kobayashi.

Mt. Gox trustee Nobuaki Kobayashi said creditor repayments would commence in July. Source: Nobuaki Kobayashi

Several market commentators voiced concerns over the sheer volume of Bitcoin that could hit the market following Mt. Gox creditors selling their holdings, which have been inaccessible for more than ten years.

However, other analysts worked to allay fears of a massive sell-off, saying the total amount of Bitcoin that stands to be “dumped” on the market is probably closer to a value of around $4.5 billion.

Related: German MP urges government to stop ‘hasty’ Bitcoin sell-off

Galaxy Digital's head of research, Alex Thorn, suggested that many Mt. Gox Bitcoin holders might be more "diamond-handed" than anticipated. He highlighted the potential adverse impact of capital gains taxes for those who wished to sell all their BTC at once.

On May 28, Mt. Gox transferred nearly $7.3 billion worth of Bitcoin to another unknown wallet address. The price of Bitcoin dipped as much as 2% afterward.

Bitcoin is down 6.9% in the last week. Source: TradingView

The price of Bitcoin fell sharply on July 4 before tumbling lower in the following hours. It is currently changing hands for $57,226, per TradingView data .

The price of Bitcoin is down 6.9% on the week but has posted year-to-date gains of 35.6%.

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