The bankrupt exchange Mt.Gox, which collapsed in 2014, has begun actively moving bitcoins for the first time in five years, according to Arkham.
Within a few hours, the platform transferred over 128,000 BTC (~$8.7 billion) from a cold wallet to a new address through a series of transactions.
According to Arkham, the amount reached 141,686 BTC (~$9.62 billion).
$10B of Mt. Gox BTC (140K) moved over the last 7 hours
72 different Mt. Gox-linked wallets sent a total of 141,686 BTC in batches of ~2K to 1Jbez, a new wallet that received its first test transaction for $3.65 on 5/20 last week and began receiving larger transactions 8 hours… pic.twitter.com/PaBXqFrnYO
— Arkham (@ArkhamIntel) May 28, 2024
The movement of coins belonging to the defunct Mt.Gox triggered a negative market reaction, particularly fears of a sell-off. Bitcoin’s price, which had risen to $70,000 on Monday evening, fell below $68,000.
Mt.Gox wallets tracked by Arkham hold a total of 137,892 BTC valued at $9.35 billion.
In January, the exchange confirmed creditor addresses for compensation. In April, some platform clients reported receiving fiat payments.
It is expected that Mt.Gox will distribute assets by October 31, 2024.
Experts at K33 Research concluded that the prospect of a bitcoin sell-off by the exchange could “frighten the market” and exert pressure on the price.
The civil rehabilitation process for Mt.Gox users began in June 2018. In 2021, the Tokyo court approved the platform’s compensation plan.
The trustee presented the compensation proposal in December 2020. In January 2021, details of the plan became known, and in February, the court approved it for subsequent voting.
The voting started on May 31 and ended on October 20. Approximately 83% of the exchange’s users supported the compensation initiative.