Mt. Gox shifts out $700M in Bitcoin, first major move in 3 weeks

It’s the most significant Bitcoin move since July 30, though Galaxy’s head of research doesn’t think it’s for distribution.

Defunct crypto exchange Mt. Gox has just moved around 12,000 Bitcoin to a new, unknown wallet address in its first major transaction since the end of July. 

Mt. Gox made the move around 11:39 pm UTC on Aug. 20, sending 12,000 Bitcoin (BTC), worth $709.4 million, to an empty address starting with “1PuQB.”

It also sent 1,265 BTC worth $74.8 million to the address starting with “1Jbez,” which is labeled as a Mt. Gox cold wallet on Arkham Intelligence. The funds haven’t moved since. 

The major move could mean Mt. Gox is preparing to distribute more Bitcoin to its creditors, who have been waiting to get their crypto back after the exchange was hacked and then collapsed in 2014. 

Though Galaxy’s head of research, Alex Thorn, believes otherwise. 

Thorn believes only a small amount of the funds moved — $74.5 million — is intended to be distributed, with the rest going into “fresh cold storage” still owned by the estate. 

In either case, it marks the first big Bitcoin move from Mt. Gox since July 30, when Mt. Gox moved 47,229 BTC to three unknown wallets over a three-hour period. 

At the time, Arkham Intelligence suspected that 33,105 Bitcoin went to an address owned by crypto exchange BitGo, one of the custodians working with the Mt. Gox Trustee to return funds to creditors.

Two weeks later, this wallet sent a test transaction before sending the entire amount to another unknown wallet address, where it has sat since. 

Related: Mt. Gox creditors report multiple ‘brute-force’ attempts on their accounts

Around 68% of Mt. Gox’s funds have been distributed back to creditors, according to CryptoQuant data.

As of the time of publication, Mt. Gox still holds a substantial amount of Bitcoin — 46,164 BTC worth roughly $2.7 billion. 

Interestingly, Mt. Gox creditors appear to have defied expectations, with creditors seemingly holding onto their reacquired Bitcoin. 

Bitpanda deputy CEO Lukas Enzersdorfer-Konrad told Cointelegraph earlier this month that it’s worth remembering that Mt. Gox was one of the earliest exchanges around, so people using it “were early adoptions.”

“For them, Bitcoin isn’t just an asset, it’s a technology and an idea that they really believe in. That doesn’t mean they will never sell, but it will affect when they might sell and in what volumes.”

Maria Carola, CEO of cryptocurrency exchange StealthEX, told Cointelegraph that these creditors are opting to hold onto their coins “primarily due to expectations of future price appreciation, aiming for potentially higher returns.”

She added that liquidating their funds right away “could mean significant capital gains taxes,” while holding onto the funds could allow investors to “delay these taxes or await more favorable market conditions.”

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