The trustee of the now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange Mt. Gox confirmed today (Friday) that repayment to some of the creditors in Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash has been initiated. This was part of the rehabilitation plan after the exchange was shut down in 2014.
The notice by the rehabilitation trustee, Nobuaki Kobayashi, further detailed that “repayments to other rehabilitation creditors will be promptly made” after conditions like confirmation of the registered accounts and other repayment agreements are met.
Rehabilitation after 10 Years
At its peak, Mt. Gox was the largest Bitcoin exchange, handling 70 per cent of all global Bitcoin transactions. However, it shuttered its services as it could not recover from the impact of its hack. The former CEO of the exchange was additionally convicted in a Japanese court for tampering with exchange records.
The exchange shuttered its operations in February 2014, yet the trustee took ten years to initiate refunds to the victims. Earlier, the trustee delayed the rehabilitation process several times.
The repayment process to the creditors began last year, as many creditors confirmed receiving payment via bank transfer in Japanese yen. Interestingly, many received the payments twice, resulting in the trustee sending emails to such creditors asking for a refund for the excess amount.
Bitcoin Is Down
Meanwhile, Bitcoin's fiat value has tumbled in recent days and is now trading below $55,000. Notably, the cryptocurrency peaked at about $74,000 earlier this year, meaning its value went down by over 25.6 per cent.
According to on-chain analysts, the Mt. Gox trustee recently moved 47,228 BTC, signalling the commencement of the payout. Although analysts suspect that the recent market downturn is due to Mt. Gox’s rehabilitation plan, there is optimism that the market will absorb the sell-off pressure.
