Mt. Gox creditors fail to set repayment date, but markets to remain unaffected

Eight years ago, in 2014, the crypto world was rocked by the crippling hack of Mt. Gox, a popular Bitcoin (BTC) exchange, which was forced to shut down after miscreants were able to make away with approximately 850,000 BTC, worth more than $16 billion at today’s exchange rates. 

At the time of the incident, the Tokyo-based exchange was the world’s largest cryptocurrency trading ecosystem, processing over 70% of the crypto market’s daily Bitcoin trading volume. However, due to its lack of quality security protocols, hackers were able to make their way with the crypto assets of over 24,000 customers, which is still one of the largest such incidents in the history of the digital asset industry.

Now nearly a decade removed, Mt. Gox customers affected by the hack have been issued a notice that they have until Sept. 15 to make or transfer a claim. However, the payouts have been engulfed in a long-standing legal battle, with the rehabilitation plan being delayed numerous times. Recently, there have been rumors that the payout could happen soon, potentially in a major Bitcoin dump.

The rumors gained so much traction that Mt. Gox creditors recently had to take to social media to say that they were completely false, with one highlighting that the defunct exchange’s repayment system is still quite far from going live.

Creditors set the record straight 

As part of a recent Twitter thread, Eric Wall, a creditor for Mt. Gox, noted that contrary to the news floating on the internet that 137,000 BTC would be dumped into the market soon, the exchange had not yet devised the infrastructure needed to facilitate such a move and, therefore, there would be no repayments anytime soon.

Furthermore, as things stand, Wall highlighted that customers affected by the Mt. Gox hack have not even been able to register the address where their due Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) payments need to be transferred, signaling that there is no immediate reason to worry about an impending market crash.

The creditor also believes that the payments will most likely take place in many installments, thereby calming fears that thousands of BTC will be sold all at once and subsequently dump the price of the flagship crypto. Lastly, Wall noted that the crypto exchange has yet to issue an exact timeline regarding the repayment process, further arguing that even if the BTC were released, it would make sense to “buy rather than sell” the asset due to the prevailing market conditions. At press…