Eight years ago, the crypto world was rocked in 2014 when popular Bitcoin (BTC) exchange Matt Gox was hacked and forced to shut down at a price that exceeded its value after hackers made off with an estimated 850,000 BTC. 16 billion dollars in today’s exchange rate.
At the time of the crash, the Tokyo-based exchange was the world’s largest cryptocurrency trading ecosystem, processing more than 70% of the crypto market’s daily bitcoin trades. But due to the lack of quality security protocols, hackers managed to steal over 24,000 customers with crypto assets, which is still one of the biggest incidents in the history of the digital asset industry.
Now nearly a decade removed, the Mt. Gox customers affected by the hack have been given until September 15 to file or transfer claims. However, the payments have been embroiled in a long-running legal battle, and the rehabilitation plan has been delayed several times. Recently, there were rumors that the payment could happen soon, it could be in the main Bitcoin dump.
The rumor got so much attention that the creditors of Matt Gox recently took to social media to claim that it was a complete hoax, and one highlighted that the exchange’s payment system is far from going live.
Lenders set the record straight.
As part of a recent Twitter thread, for Mt. Gox lender Eric Wall; It is mentioned Contrary to the news floating on the internet that 137,000 BTC will soon be released to the market, the exchange has not yet created the necessary infrastructure to facilitate such a move and therefore there will be no payments anytime soon.
Additionally, as things stand, Wall revealed that customers affected by the Man Gox hack were unable to even register their Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) payout addresses, indicating that there was no immediate reason. Worrying about an impending market crash.
The lender also believes that payments will be made several times, thus thousands of BTC will be sold at once and will calm the fear that the main crypto will drop in value. Finally, Wall stated that the crypto exchange has not yet released an exact timetable for the payment process, but even if BTC is released, it would make sense to “buy instead of sell” the asset due to the current market conditions. At press time, BTC is trading at $18,893.
Similarly, Marshall Heiner, another Mt. Gox lender, took to Twitter Confirmation Matty Gox is nowhere close to giving his dues. He assured market participants that the majority of individuals who offered to accept bitcoins had “pledged” not to sell their holdings in the near future.
The proposed redistribution plan and possible implications
Earlier this year, in July, Nobuaki Kobayashi announced that Mt. Gox Recovery Plan The appointed recovery trustee has informed the public that the exchange is developing a payment plan. In an official document, he and his team noted that eligible individuals have the option to receive their payment in the form of BTC or BCH.
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The rehabilitation plan came into existence two years ago and was approved last year. But of the 850,000 BTC owed, the exchange only has approximately 150,000 BTC to pay creditors. Konstantin Shirokov, a representative of the decentralized money market Fridge Finance, gave his insight into the matter and told Cointelegraph:
“The distribution of said coins is only a matter of time, and this indicates what has fueled the rumors about the completion of plans to release funds. The user agitation is very real, and investors in the wider digital currency ecosystem are wondering what the release and sale of such a large amount of coins could have on the price of Bitcoin. So is risk.
He added that while the coins in question are worth about $2.9 billion at today’s prices, they shouldn’t weigh the market that much, but the overall sentiment in the market is negative. “Consequently, the release of the coins and the possibility of a drop may reduce the price of Bitcoin in the days after the release,” Shirokov said.
In the end, borrowers are going to get an initial payment, after which they can choose to take the rest of their money in one lump sum or a small fee at a later stage. Gox’s BTC vault is cashed out of cash.
The Mt. Gox’s stolen BTC stash moves after nine years
Late last week, Two old Bitcoin addresses created in 2013 were revealed to have sent approximately 10,000 BTC to different crypto accounts. Using heuristics and clustering techniques, it became clear that BTC was associated with Mt Gox. In this regard, a data engineer working for OXT Research, a platform that provides analysis of events taking place in the Bitcoin ecosystem; It is mentioned:
Although there are Kraken deposits, these coins are not from Kraken. They are, however, under the control of Matt Gox and possibly Jeb McCleb. […] User explanation for this [BTC] Links to blog post cluster on the @wizsecurity blog. WizSec is an expert on the Mt Gox saga.
After this, another 5,000 BTC associated with the disabled exchange was transferred to various third-party accounts. The activity was caught by BTCparser and happened exactly 120 hours after the above development. According to Oxt Research, this latest Bitcoin, too, is linked to Matt Gox and possibly Jed McCaleb.
What awaits those affected by Mount Gox?
For this massive BTC stockpile – which has been dormant for nearly a decade – suddenly starts to move when the digital currency trades around $20,000, at least these signs have nothing to do with Mount Gox. Other than the fact that the timing of this action is aligned with the trustee’s latest update.
According to Kobayashi’s recently released rehabilitation plan, after September 15, there will be a chapter that says, “Assignment, transfer or inheritance, offer as security or other rehabilitation requests are prohibited.” That said, the document is still gray on wording when it sets a deadline for the “moratorium period” but acknowledges that the first full payment to creditors will follow as outlined in the approved rehabilitation plan. 99% of all eligible users affected by the issue.
Finally, the document states that claimants who file a transfer notice after September 15 may find that the trust cannot decide who to send the amount owed to:
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“This may result in the rehabilitation creditors not being able to receive the payment they prefer, the payment date being significantly delayed compared to other rehabilitation creditors, or in the worst case, the payment amount may be set by the Tokyo Legal Affairs Office in accordance with the law and guidelines.”
Therefore, the Mt. While the Gox saga continues to pique the interest of people around the world, it will be interesting to see how it all plays out in the end, especially with so many new developments – like the aforementioned resurgence of dormant Bitcoin – coming to the fore soon.