Key Insights
- A wallet associated with Mt. Gox moved over $2 billion worth of bitcoin on Tuesday.
- The wallet, likely belonging to BitGo, may signal the final phase of Mt. Gox creditor repayments.
- This movement follows a month of significant bitcoin transfers from Mt. Gox to various cryptocurrency exchanges.
TOKYO (MarketsXplora) – A significant development in the long-running Mt. Gox cryptocurrency exchange case unfolded on Tuesday, as blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence reported the movement of over $2 billion worth of bitcoin from a wallet associated with the defunct exchange.
The wallet, which had previously received $2.19 billion in bitcoin from Mt. Gox, initiated what appeared to be test transactions early Tuesday. Arkham Intelligence speculated in a social media post that the wallet likely belongs to cryptocurrency custodian BitGo, potentially marking the final phase of the Mt. Gox creditor repayment process.
“This wallet bc1q26 is likely BitGo, the 5th and final exchange working with Mt. Gox Trustee to distribute funds to Mt. Gox creditors,” Arkham stated, raising the question: “Are they about to distribute to creditors?”
Hours after the initial test transactions, the same wallet transferred nearly $2 billion worth of bitcoin to another wallet, as per Arkham’s data.
This activity follows a month of significant bitcoin transfers from Mt. Gox to designated cryptocurrency exchanges, including Bitbank, Kraken, Bitstamp, and SBI VC Trade. These exchanges have been tasked with distributing the recovered bitcoin to Mt. Gox creditors.
Mt. Gox, once the world’s largest bitcoin exchange, ceased operations in 2014 following a major security breach that resulted in the loss of at least 850,000 bitcoins. Since then, thousands of creditors have been awaiting the return of their funds, a process that has been gradually unfolding in recent weeks.