Markets
Mt. Gox Begins Reimbursements in Bitcoin (BTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH)
Mount Gox said Friday that it has started issuing refunds to customers, ending a nearly 10-year wait for some users to get their crypto back after a 2014 hack sent the cryptocurrency exchange into bankruptcy.
The company was once the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchange, handling more than 70% of all bitcoins (BTC) transactions in its early years. The hack resulted in the loss of approximately 740,000 bitcoins.
The announcement added selling pressure to bitcoin and the broader cryptocurrency market after Mt. Gox announced last month that it planned to begin repayments in July.
“Mt. Gox moved 47,228 BTC, signaling the start of its refund process, which caused some fear in the market due to the potential heavy selling… However, it is worth noting that despite these concerns, the long-term impact could be less severe as the market gradually absorbs the selling pressure,” said Willy Chuang, COO of crypto exchange WOO X.
Some customers may have to wait up to 60 to 90 days to receive their payments, but Mark Karpeles, the exchange’s former CEO, confirmed in a direct message to CoinDesk on X that these are the worst-case figures.
“These are delays related to the number of transfers to be processed, each exchange may have a slightly different internal policy and decide to credit everyone later than sooner or sooner than later,” he said.
Exchanges approved by the Trustee to process refunds include Bitbank, BitGo, Bistamp, Kraken and SBI VC trade, a Japanese exchange.
UPDATE (July 5, 06:40 UTC):Adds additional information and market context.
UPDATE (July 5, 07:00 UTC):Adds analyst commentary and bullet points.
UPDATE (July 5, 10:10 UTC): Adds quotes from Mark Karpeles in fifth paragraph, updates BTC price in fourth.