BITCOIN | As Mt. Gox Gets Ready to Make Distributions, Over 141K BTC Supply May Hit the Market
Investors with keen eyes have noticed wallets from the defunct bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox moving more than $7 billion in cryptocurrency. The market saw considerable panic after the now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange allegedly transferred over 141K Bitcoin, or more than $9 billion, from its cold wallets.
Based on information provided by Arkham Intelligence, the exchange that failed in 2014 moved the assets in several transactions to an unidentified address. Since its launch in 2010, Mt. Gox has grown significantly in popularity, and by 2013, it accounted for 70% of all bitcoin trades worldwide, making it the largest bitcoin exchange. But it stopped accepting withdrawals and stopped trading at the beginning of 2014. After losing more than 800,000 bitcoins, the company filed for bankruptcy shortly after the website went offline. Former CEO Mark Karpelès calmed people down by saying the measure was taken in advance of claimant disbursements. Following that, the trustee of the Mt. Gox estate issued a statement that echoed Karpelès’ opinions.
Recently, the dynamics of Bitcoin’s supply and demand have favored bulls. The halving event that occurred in April 2024 decreased the amount of new Bitcoin that entered circulation, while the introduction of #ETFs at the beginning of the year raised institutional demand. According to Coinshares, inflows into institutional cryptocurrency products surged by $1 billion in a single week, setting a new record of $14.9 billion for 2024. The more than 100,000 dormant Bitcoin that the trustees of Mt. Gox may soon release onto the market could tip the odds.
With repayment to creditors targeted by October 31, 2024, these future repayments could sway Bitcoin’s market dynamics; some analysts, however, expect recipients to hold their coins. Right now, Mt. Gox’s Rehabilitation Trustee retains control of the new wallets, and no repayments have been made to creditors thus far, so no real impact, according to CryptoQuant.
