Mt. Gox Mystery: Defunct Exchange Moves Over $2 Billion In Bitcoin

Mt. Gox is back in the news, this time, transferring 32,371 Bitcoin, valued at $2.19 billion at current prices, to an undisclosed address. The transaction from a defunct crypto exchange happened when Bitcoin’s market price was stuck in the $65k to $73k range and anticipating the results of the US elections.

Arkham Intelligence was one of the first firms to track the movement, stating that 32,371 BTC had moved out of the address. Arkham said that there were two transfers made out of the suspected Mt. Gox wallet: the first, amounting to 30,371 tokens to a wallet with an address that starts at “1FG2Cv…” and the second tranche, with 2,000 tokens to a cold wallet still owned by the former exchange, before being moved to another unnamed destination.

Source: Arkham Intelligence

Mt. Gox Still Holds Over 44k BTC

According to an Arkham Intelligence estimate, the defunct exchange boasts 44,378 BTC in its inventory, which is around $3 billion at current prices. Many experts say the current wallet movement is related to the planned settlement and repayment to creditors after it filed for bankruptcy in 2014.

Although the exchange is no longer operational, its crypto wallets remain active. For example, the exchange recently moved 500 tokens (around $35 million) to undisclosed addresses. The company did not share any information about this recent BTC transfer. Still, many observers speculate that it’s part of its efforts to cover its obligations as part of the settlement process.

A Bankruptcy Due To Hacking

Before it filed for bankruptcy protection, Mt. Gox was considered the biggest crypto exchange platform. Founded in 2020, it processed more than 70% of global crypto transactions at its height.

Then, a series of hacks and security breaches from 2011 to 2014 targeted the company. During this period, the exchange lost around 850k BTC, making it one of the biggest crypto hacks in history. Although law enforcement managed to track and recover around 140k, this was not enough to save the exchange, which eventually filed for bankruptcy protection.

Repayment Deadline Extended

As part of the exchange’s bankruptcy plan and protection, it must repay its creditors and former customers. The exchange’s trustee extended the repayment deadline by one year, making the last week of October 2025 its new deadline.

Mt Gox faces a challenging repayment process involving billions of dollars. Due to its size, some analysts are concerned that the exchange’s former creditors can liquidate their digital assets, causing a sell-off. The top digital asset is trading at the $68k level and remained almost unchanged for the rest of the day.

Featured image from Protos, chart from TradingView