Mt. Gox Moving Funds

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Wallets controlled by the now-bankrupt Mt. Gox estate has begun moving funds again, with 500 BTC, or $35.04M worth, moved last night. The initial sum was transferred from a Mt. Gox cold wallet (1Jbez), to two other wallets, bc1qn and 12cTj. The BTC was further distributed through several wallets, with the majority of the BTC ending up in a single wallet, 1JGSC, which received 400 BTC, or $27.95M worth.

This complex chain of transfers is a typical on-chain practice for managing large sums. By splitting the funds and moving them through several intermediary addresses, the estate can enhance security and make the final destination less immediately obvious, a standard procedure for custodial movements.

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The transfer is the latest in a series of transfers in the disbursements from the bankruptcy of Japanese centralized exchange, Mt. Gox, which wound up in 2014 after a hack. After a decade of legal proceedings and waiting, creditors are finally receiving their BTC, with many of them having their assets significantly increase in dollar value since the hack in 2014.

This decade-long wait has turned what were once modest holdings into life-changing sums for many creditors. The market closely tracks these disbursements, as they represent a large supply of Bitcoin, held by individuals who have not had access to them for over ten years, becoming liquid for the first time.

Today, Mt. Gox addresses still hold 44.878K BTC or $3.19B worth, with ~31.6% of the original 141,686 BTC to be distributed to creditors.

The fact that nearly a third of the distributable BTC is still in the estate's hands means these on-chain movements are far from over. Each new transfer will likely be met with similar scrutiny from market participants, who are watching for signs of these coins moving to exchanges.