Mt. Gox Transfers 12,000 BTC Amid Ongoing Distributions to Creditors

On August 20, defunct crypto exchange Mt. Gox transferred 12,000 Bitcoin to a new wallet address. The move, worth $709.4 million, is the first

Defunct crypto exchange Mt. Gox made its first large Bitcoin transfer in nearly three weeks on August 20. The exchange transferred 12,000 BTC, valued at $709.4 million, to a new wallet address.

According to Arkham Intelligence, the wallet, starting with “1PuQB,” was previously empty and received the large Bitcoin sum in a single transaction.

Apart from this, Mt. Gox also sent 1,265 BTC to a wallet address flagged as a cold storage by Arkham. This wallet, starting with “1Jbez,” has not moved any funds since the transaction.

The last major Bitcoin move by Mt. Gox was on July 30, when 47,229 BTC were transferred from the exchange's cold storage to three new wallets over three hours.

At the time, Arkham Intelligence suggested that 33,105 BTC were sent to a wallet controlled by crypto exchange BitGo, a custodian working with the Mt. Gox trustee.

The recent Bitcoin transfer by Mt. Gox has sparked speculation, with some suggesting that the exchange might be preparing to distribute Bitcoin to its creditors.

These creditors have been waiting to receive their funds since the 2014 Mt. Gox hack and collapse, which resulted in the loss of 850,000 BTC.

However, Alex Thorn, head of research at Galaxy, believes that only $74.5 million of the transferred funds might be intended for distribution. He suggests that the remaining funds could be moved into fresh cold storage still controlled by the Mt. Gox estate.

“The large sum of BTC, valued at $709.4 million, was moved from Mt. Gox on August 20 to a new address, marking the exchange's first significant Bitcoin transfer in three weeks,” cryptoquant.com reports.

According to CryptoQuant, 68% of Mt. Gox’s funds have already been distributed to creditors. Notably, the exchange still holds 46,164 BTC, which is currently valued at around $2.7 billion.

Despite the lengthy delay in receiving their funds, many Mt. Gox creditors appear to be holding onto their Bitcoin.

Lukas Enzersdorfer-Konrad, deputy CEO of Bitpanda, pointed out that Mt. Gox was one of the earliest exchanges in the crypto industry. As a result, many creditors were early adopters who valued Bitcoin beyond its monetary worth.

“For them, Bitcoin isn't just an asset, it's a technology and an idea that they really believe in. That doesn't mean they will never sell, but it will affect when they might sell and in what volumes,” he said.

Maria Carola, CEO of StealthEX, mentioned that some creditors might be holding their coins in anticipation of future price increases.

Additionally, selling immediately could result in significant capital gains taxes, which might influence their decision to hold.