Mt. Gox Transfers 11,501 Bitcoin Worth $1 Billion Amid Creditor Payout Speculation

Bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange Mt. Gox has transferred 11,501 Bitcoin worth approximately $1 billion on March 25. This marks the third major Bitcoin movement by the exchange in March alone. The transfer involved sending 893 Bitcoin to its cold wallet and 10,608 Bitcoin to another wallet known as the Mt. Gox change wallet. This latest transfer follows two similar large movements earlier this month, where Mt. Gox moved 12,000 Bitcoin worth over $1 billion on March 6 and another 11,833 Bitcoin on March 11. One of the earlier transfers this month ended up at a cryptocurrency exchange. The same analytics firm suggested that the 893 Bitcoin sent to Mt. Gox’s warm wallet “will be moved out shortly too.”

Despite these large transfers, Mt. Gox still maintains about 35,000 Bitcoin, worth approximately $3.1 billion at current prices across wallets controlled by the exchange. Many crypto market watchers believe these large movements could signal that creditor payouts are approaching. Creditors of the bankrupt exchange have the option to receive their repayments in Bitcoin rather than cash. A Reddit poll conducted in July 2024 after Mt. Gox’s first payout found that many creditors were not in a rush to sell their Bitcoin. This suggests limited immediate selling pressure from these distributions.

Mt. Gox was once the world’s largest Bitcoin exchange, handling between 70-80% of all Bitcoin trades globally before its collapse. The exchange filed for bankruptcy in early 2014 after suffering a devastating hack that resulted in the loss of 850,000 Bitcoin. Following the bankruptcy, a Tokyo court appointed a trustee to manage the proceedings. The trustee’s job includes compensating creditors with the exchange’s remaining assets. In October 2024, the trustee extended the deadline for repayments by a full year. The new deadline is October 31, 2025. The extension was necessary because “many creditors still have not received their repayments because they have not completed the necessary procedures.”

Last December, Mt. Gox also moved over 24,000 Bitcoin worth nearly $2.5 billion. This transfer happened after Bitcoin reached the $100,000 price milestone. The recent large Bitcoin movements have led to speculation about potential market volatility. Cryptocurrency analyst Ali Martinez has identified $89,000 as a key resistance level for Bitcoin. This level represents the meeting point of the 50-day moving average and a descending trendline from Bitcoin’s all-time high. Martinez suggests that Bitcoin needs to break through this level to gain strong bullish momentum. Failure to do so might result in continued price consolidation or a potential pullback. The analyst also noted that Bitcoin’s Relative Strength Index has recently entered overbought territory. Historically, the last six times this happened, Bitcoin experienced sharp price corrections afterward. Meanwhile, the TD Sequential indicator, which helps identify market reversals, suggests Bitcoin may be approaching a short-term peak. This could lead to profit-taking by traders in the near future.

Mt. Gox began repaying its creditors in July 2024 from its holdings. These holdings included 142,000 Bitcoin, 143,000 Bitcoin Cash, and 69 billion Japanese yen. Some creditors have already received repayments through exchanges. However, many others are still waiting to complete the necessary procedures to receive their funds. The current Bitcoin price is hovering around $86,500. This represents a roughly 7% decrease from early March when Mt. Gox made another large Bitcoin transfer while the price was near $92,000. Bitcoin daily trading volumes have increased by 97%. They now stand at $33.37 billion, showing high market activity during these large transfers.