KEY POINTS:
- Bitcoin prices slump to $55,000.
- Mt. Gox payout fears linger.
- 140,000 BTC to be repaid.
Tokyo-based exchange held 950,000 BTC in 2014 before it slammed its doors shut. Now, 140,000 BTC have been recovered.
- Bitcoin prices BTCUSD were languishing near a four-month low of $55,000 Monday morning as crypto traders were running for cover ahead of an expected dump. A defunct exchange, which was the top digital asset trading venue in 2014, has come back to make things right (kind of). Mt. Gox, a Tokyo-based crypto marketplace, collapsed 10 years ago and locked users out of their accounts. The platform was allegedly hacked and 950,000 Bitcoin went missing.
- Now, an appointed trustee is trying to make amends. A total of 140,000 Bitcoin have been recovered and are getting ready to be paid back to users who’ve waited 10 years for this moment. In other words, roughly $9 billion will be returned to users. Already about $2.7 billion were moved out of an offline Mt. Gox-related account. While the payouts will be made in BTC, analysts fear many will cash out and take profits.
- Back in 2014, one Bitcoin was going for about $300. Some fortunate early adopters who put their cash and got locked out will yield massive profits. But others won’t get a penny for their foresight investment. It’s not yet clear when the coins will be sent out to users. Still, 140,000 BTC make up about 0.7% of all 19.7 million tokens in circulation.
