Significant Bitcoin Activity from Mt.Gox Wallets Revealed

Mt.Gox Moves Large Amount of Bitcoin, Sparks Market Reaction
Today, significant movements of Bitcoin (BTC) from the wallets of the defunct Japanese exchange Mt.Gox were reported. Data from Arkham Intelligence indicated that Mt.Gox transferred 42,587 BTC, worth about $2.7 billion, to an unmarked address.
Mt.Gox, which went bankrupt in 2014 after losing 850,000 BTC in a hack, has since recovered approximately 200,000 BTC. Currently, 142,000 BTC are held in known public addresses, with a minor portion already returned to creditors. The rest remains under the control of the bankruptcy trustee, Nobuaki Kobayashi.
In the last 12 hours, three large movements totaling nearly all the remaining BTC in Mt.Gox wallets have occurred. However, these appear to be internal transfers rather than distributions to creditors or sales.
The bankruptcy procedure, managed by Kobayashi and a Japanese judge, aims to refund creditors by October 31. The refund will proceed in two phases: selling BTC for fiat to reimburse creditors who opted for cash, followed by returning BTC to those who chose cryptocurrency. Previous sales suggest substantial funds have already been raised through BTC sales.
The news impacted Bitcoin’s price, which dropped from around $65,000 to below $63,000. This decline is seen as a market reaction to the potential influx of BTC from the refunds. However, it’s uncertain if creditors will sell their BTC immediately, potentially mitigating a price crash.
Given the history of delays in the refund process, further delays are possible despite the impending October deadline. The timing of the refunds could also influence the market, especially if it coincides with a bull period, encouraging creditors to hold onto their BTC. Recent large-scale BTC sales by German authorities, which briefly affected Bitcoin’s price, highlight the market’s sensitivity to substantial BTC movements.