A wallet that received over $2 billion in bitcoin from the collapsed Mt. Gox exchange moved the bulk of those funds to a separate wallet on Tuesday, according to data from Arkham Intelligence.
The transactions suggest that the long-awaited repayment to Mt. Gox creditors could be nearing completion. More than $9.4 billion worth of Bitcoin is owed to 127,000 Mt. Gox creditors who have been waiting for over 10 years to recover their funds.
The wallet, identified as bc1q26, transferred nearly $2 billion worth of bitcoin after a smaller test transaction earlier in the day. Arkham Intelligence speculated that the wallet likely belongs to cryptocurrency exchange BitGo, which is reportedly involved in the final stages of distributing funds to Mt. Gox creditors.
This activity follows Mt. Gox’s recent transfers of billions of dollars in bitcoin to various crypto exchanges, including Bitbank, Kraken, Bitstamp, and SBI VC Trade. These exchanges are responsible for distributing the funds to creditors, who have been waiting since the 2014 security breach that led to the loss of at least 850,000 bitcoin.
On July 24, Kraken completed the distribution of all Bitcoin (BTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) owed to Mt. Gox creditors, according to CEO Dave Ripley. Nevertheless, concerns among crypto investors about massive sell-offs have not materialized. Despite fears that the majority of creditors would sell their Bitcoin, Kraken’s trading volume suggests otherwise.
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Meanwhile, Bitstamp has started the process of returning digital assets to Mt. Gox creditors. The exchange announced it has received Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, and Ethereum from the Mt. Gox trustees.
Bitstamp indicated that transfers could take up to a week for some creditors. UK customers will not be included in the first tranche of distributions but should expect to receive their funds within the next few months.
The movement of such a large sum of bitcoin signals that the resolution of the Mt. Gox saga, which has kept thousands of creditors in limbo for nearly a decade, may finally be within reach.
