Markets
Bitcoin (BTC) Prices Drop to Near $62,000 as Mt. Gox Set to Begin BTC and Bitcoin Cash Redemptions
Defunct bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox said Monday it will begin distributing assets stolen from its customers in a 2014 hack in the first week of July, years after continually pushing back deadlines.
“The rehabilitation trustee is preparing to make repayments in Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash as part of the rehabilitation plan,” trustee Nobuaki Kobayashi said in a statement Monday. posted on the Mt. Gox website.
“Refunds will be made starting in early July 2024,” Kobayashi said, adding that due diligence and certain security measures will be required before payments are made.
The refunds are widely seen as adding selling pressure to Bitcoin. (BTC) in the markets, as early investors will receive assets worth much more than their pre-2013 inflows, prompting them to sell at least some of their holdings, Traders said.
Mt. Gox was once the world’s leading crypto exchange, processing over 70% of all Bitcoin transactions in its early years. In early 2014, hackers attacked the exchange, resulting in an estimated loss of 740,000 Bitcoin ($15 billion at current prices). The hack was the largest of several attacks on the exchange during the years 2010-13.
In May, the exchange transferred more than 140,000 BTC, worth around $9 billion, from cold wallets to an unknown address in 13 transactions for the first time, marking the first on-chain wallet movements. for the first time in five years.
Bitcoin prices fell from above $62,300 in early Asia to below $62,100 within minutes of Mt. Gox’s statement being released, according to data from CoinGecko.