Nearly a decade after, the end Mt.Gox case will solve historical injustice on early Bitcoin and crypto investors who lost potential high profits over the years.
One of the largest cryptocurrency-related hacks, Mt.Gox, which saw hackers siphon about 850,000 BTC, is nearing the end of resolution with creditors expected to start receiving payouts from March 10. After the 2014 hack, Mt. Gox was left with approximately 142,000 BTC, 143,000 Bitcoin Cash (BCH), and 69 billion Japanese yen. As such, the defunct Japanese cryptocurrency exchange has set September 30, 2023, as the deadline for the repayments according to a recent statement.
Mt.Gox Hack Resolution: Bitcoin Payouts
Nearly a decade after, the end Mt.Gox case will solve historical injustice on early Bitcoin and crypto investors who lost potential high profits over the years. Moreover, most of the Mt.Gox investors who lost their money after the hack had counted it as a loss and may never retrieve the funds back.
“Well, for myself, I had pretty much written off the Bitcoin I still had on Mt. Gox in 2014 as a loss, so philosophically anything I get back now is a bonus to cold store. It has stretched on for many more years than anyone expected, and so it will be welcome I am sure by any creditors to finally get paid,” said Blockstream CEO Adam Back, who is an Mt. Gox creditor.
The Mt.Gox repayment is expected to be delayed further by cryptocurrency exchanges chosen by the creditors. For instance, Crypto exchange BitGo noted it will take up to 20 days for the repayment to be processed. Kraken exchange, on the other hand, acknowledged payments may take up to 90 days to be processed.
According to a moderator of the MtGoxInsolvency subreddit, creditors will receive a mix of around 71 percent crypto and 29 percent cash after the initial payment of about 200k yen.
Global Regulators Work to Prevent Another Mt.Gox Incident in Crypto Industry
The cryptocurrency market has significantly grown in the past ten years since the fall of Mt.Gox to a trillion-dollar industry. Market analysts forecast mainstream adoption of the cryptocurrency industry will push the valuation to tens of trillion dollars in the coming decades. Moreover, Bitcoin has already been adopted as legal tender in two nations, El Salvador and the Central African Republic.
The fall of FTX and Alameda Research late last year has widened the need for clear regulations of crypto asset custody and licensing of centralized exchanges. However, FTX Japan has begun repaying creditors through its Liquid account.
The United States SEC recently proposed rule changes to enhance protections of customer assets managed by registered investment advisers. The SEC intends to regulate investment advisors to avoid abuse of investors’ assets.
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