Nearly a decade after its infamous collapse, the once-powerful Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox is on the brink of launching a repayment plan for creditors. In a recent email, the exchange’s rehabilitation trustee, Nobuaki Kobayashi, conveyed plans to begin cash repayments in the 2023 calendar year.

The major move marks a critical stage in addressing the financial consequences of one of the cryptocurrency world’s most significant crashes.

The dawn of repayment?

The communication stated that due to the large number of creditors and the diverse nature of the claims, the complexity of the repayment process indicates that although the first round of compensation will begin this year, the full repayment process is expected to continue until 2024.

However, according to the trustee, the dates on which individual creditors participating in the Mt. Gox rehabilitation process will receive their repayments have not yet been determined. Therefore, it is “not feasible” for the reorganization trustee to notify each creditor when they will receive their repayments.

Creditors won’t know exactly when they can expect to receive funds until the repayment process is more concretely established and begins.

The trustee’s recent notice also indicated that meticulous preparations were underway, with 7 billion yen ($46.9 billion) already redeemed from trust assets to fund these upcoming repayments.

Some MtGox creditors received an email from the bankruptcy trustee stating that the trustee plans to begin repaying creditors soon and work to begin paying them in cash in 2023 and continue into 2024. Mt Gox will distribute 142,000 BTC, 143,000 BCH, and 69 billion yen…

— @WuBlockchain November 22, 2023

Kobayashi revealed in another document:

We hereby announce that on November 17, 2023 (JST), the Rehabilitation Trustee received a redemption of 7,073,684,082 yen of the Trust Assets as funds required to repay the Claims. The amount of the Trust Assets after the redemption is 8,812,899,304 yen.

Mt. Gox’s Asset Turbulence
Notably, the story of Mt. Gox is etched in the annals of cryptocurrency history. Launched in Tokyo in 2010, it quickly rose to dominate global bitcoin trading, processing 70% of all transactions by 2013.

However, the platform’s meteoric rise came to an abrupt halt following a catastrophic loss of over 800,000 Bitcoins in a hack in 2014. This halted withdrawals, suspended trading, and ultimately led to the exchange declaring bankruptcy.

The upcoming distribution includes 142,000 BTC worth $5.1 billion at today’s prices, 143,000 BCH worth $31.5 million, and 69 billion yen worth $467 million, a critical step in the recovery process.

Creditors eagerly awaiting compensation are advised to stay updated via the claims filing system. Initial repayments will be focused on smaller claims, with the first 200,000 yen per creditor paid in Japanese yen. In contrast, larger claims opting for mixed repayment will see a split of approximately 71% in cryptocurrency and 29% in cash. #Mt.GOX #还款