Ten years since the collapse of the Mt. Gox exchange, creditors are still holding their Bitcoin, even after the asset has appreciated over 8,500%. Following the collapse of Mt. Gox, creditors received over $4 billion worth of BTC. Nearly half of the assets owed to these creditors have been distributed, but even after a decade of growth, they are still hodling.
Mt. Gox was a prominent Bitcoin exchange founded in 2010 and based in Japan. The exchange collapsed in 2014 following a hack. It processed more than 70% of all Bitcoin transactions at its peak. Mt. Gox lost 850,000 BTC in its security breach, making it one of the biggest hacks ever, and causing the exchange to close its doors.
The Kraken crypto exchange has worked in distributing the Bitcoin to creditors. This process wrapped up on Monday. However, no selling pressure was seen for the asset on the Kraken exchange in the hours following the BTC distribution. This suggests that the new hodlers of billions in BTC aren’t ready to cash in yet.
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Glassnode notes in a report, “Creditors opted to receive BTC, rather than fiat, which was new in Japanese bankruptcy law… As such, it is relatively likely that only a subset of these distributed coins will be truly sold onto the market.”
Bitcoin has exploded in price since 2014, rising to an all-time high of $73,000 this past March. Since the arrival of Spot Bitcoin ETFs, the leading cryptocurrency has performed greatly in 2024. However, experts believe that with cryptocurrency garnering more attention from the government, there is more room for BTC to rise. Thus, these Mt. Gox Bitcoin hodlers may have even more profits coming their way if they ever decide to sell.