Mt. Gox Set To Begin Cash Repayments To Creditors ‘Shortly’ This Year

Creditors of Mt. Gox, a now-defunct crypto exchange that ceased operations after losing 850,000 BTC in a 2014 hack, have reportedly received an email hinting at soon-to-come repayments.

On November 21, Nobuaki Kobayashi – the trustee overseeing Mt. Gox’s bankruptcy proceedings – started sending out emails to rehabilitation creditors about the commencement of repayments, as per the reports. The email indicates that the trustee plans to begin the first round of cash repayments to creditors this year. However, the repayments are expected to extend into 2024 due to the large number of rehabilitation creditors.

According to the email:

“The specific timing of repayment to individual rehabilitation creditors is undetermined, and therefore, it will not be possible to provide advance notice to each rehabilitation creditor regarding the specific timing of their repayment.”

Kobayashi also clarified that the exact timing for individual repayments is yet to be decided. Creditors will not be given advance notice about when they will receive their compensation. Moreover, creditors can track the status of their repayments using the claim filing system set up for this purpose.

On Nov. 22, the Mt. Gox trustee officially announced the redemption of trust assets. According to the document, the rehabilitation trustee received the redemption of 7 billion Japanese yen (equivalent to $47 million) to finance the repayment of claims. The statement mentioned that, following the redemption, the trust assets totaled 8.8 billion yen, about $59 million.

Some Mt. Gox rehabilitation watchers pointed out that the recent email specifically mentioned cash payments. However, many victims of the Mt. Gox hack are anticipating the return of significant amounts of BTC. As per the data from the Mt. Gox balance bot on X, the Mt. Gox trustee has 135,890 BTC in known addresses and 3795 BTC in unknown addresses.

Mt. Gox’s Downfall

Launched in 2010, the Tokyo-based platform quickly gained popularity in the crypto market. By 2013, it had become the world’s largest Bitcoin exchange, handling 70% of global BTC transactions. However, the platform ceased all withdrawals and halted trading in early 2014 due to a massive hack of 850,000 BTC that impacted around 24,000 creditors.

Subsequently, the site went offline, and the company filed for bankruptcy protection. The incident was a turning point for cryptocurrency exchanges and demonstrated the need to improve security measures in the industry.