In a recent development, the Mt. Gox Rehabilitation Trustee, Nobuaki Kobayashi, announced on Thursday that the deadline for the repayment of creditors has been extended to October 31, 2024, from the previous deadline of October 31, 2023. The Tokyo District Court gave approval for this extension, which marks another delay in a series of postponements that have lasted over a decade.
The bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange, Mt. Gox, was established in 2010 and at its peak handled over 70% of all Bitcoin transactions. However, between 2011 and 2014, the exchange suffered a series of hacks that led to the loss of nearly 850,000 BTC. At current Bitcoin prices, these stolen funds amount to approximately $22.9 billion. This incident affected around 24,000 creditors who have been awaiting some form of relief for nearly a decade now.
Despite the setbacks, the exchange has managed to recover nearly 20% of the stolen assets and currently holds 142,000 BTC, 143,000 Bitcoin Cash (BCH), and around 69 billion Yen ($1 = JPY147.92) among other assets. These recovered assets are intended to compensate over 10,000 creditors.
The Trustee had previously offered hope to the creditors with a repayment plan that included a Base Repayment, an Early Lump-Sum Repayment, and an Intermediate Repayment by October 31, 2023. However, the recent letter from September 21 makes it clear that this deadline has been pushed back by another year.
This delay is a relief for Bitcoin holders who were concerned about the potential impact on Bitcoin prices due to a large number of BTC coins being released into the open market. Some analysts believe that the repayment event will have limited impact on BTC prices as most creditors are early adopters and true believers in BTC.
The specific timing of repayments to each rehabilitation creditor has not yet been determined and is subject to change depending on circumstances, according to the Trustee.
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