Key Points
- Bitcoin surpasses $100,000 as defunct exchange Mt. Gox moves approximately $2.47 billion worth of the cryptocurrency.
- The reason for the transfer remains unclear, raising concerns of a potential sell-off by Mt. Gox creditors.
Bitcoin’s value has crossed the significant $100,000 mark.
In a surprising move, the dormant crypto exchange Mt. Gox transferred roughly $2.47 billion worth of Bitcoin to an unidentified wallet.
Mysterious Transfer
Arkham Intelligence identified that a Mt. Gox wallet, known as “1F…RT”, transferred over 24,000 BTC to an unidentified wallet beginning with “1N7j” at 2:45 am UTC on Dec. 5.
The funds currently remain in this wallet.
The exact reason for transferring over $2 billion worth of BTC from the Mt. Gox wallet remains a mystery.
Past transactions of this nature were quickly followed by payouts to creditors.
It’s uncertain whether the defunct exchange transferred the funds to a cryptocurrency platform or reallocated them within its own wallets.
Market Impact and Future Concerns
This move has sparked fears of a potential sell-off by Mt. Gox creditors, particularly with the $100,000 mark viewed as a profitable target.
Interestingly, Bitcoin’s price did not react to this move and remained a little over $103,000 after reaching an all-time high of $103,679 hours earlier.
The Mt. Gox trustees have extended the payout deadline to Oct. 31, 2025, as some creditors still need to complete necessary procedures or have encountered various issues despite most having already received primary and early payments.
This is the first transfer since Nov. 12, when approximately 2.3k Bitcoin worth $205 million was moved to another unidentified wallet.
Those funds remain stationary as well.
As of press time, Mt. Gox still holds over 39,000 Bitcoin, valued at roughly $4.12 billion at current prices.
Mt. Gox, formerly the largest Bitcoin exchange, lost approximately 850,000 BTC, worth $450 million at the time, to theft from its hot wallets.
The exchange subsequently stopped trading, shut down its website, and filed for bankruptcy in 2014.