The repayment of around 142,000 Bitcoin to the injured customers of the Bitcoin exchange Mt.Gox, which collapsed in 2014 following hacks, among other things, is currently in full swing. Although only a small proportion of the approximately 850,000 Bitcoin lost at the time could be recovered, those affected should still be pleased with the high return on their investment - one Bitcoin cost a few hundred euros at the time.
The crypto exchange Kraken, which is involved in the repayment process alongside other exchanges, has already credited the coins to the former Mt.Gox customers. However, it seems that they want to continue holding and not sell.
Kraken has completed the distribution
Yesterday afternoon, there were the first reports from those affected who had received the Mt.Gox coins in question back via Kraken. Today, Dave Ripley, the CEO of Kraken, finally spoke out. He wrote on the 𝕏 platform that his exchange has completed the repayments.
Kraken has successfully distributed #Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash from Mt.Gox holdings to creditors.
Dave Ripley
Last week, 48,641 BTC - more than a third of all Mt.Gox coins - flowed out of the Mt.Gox wallet to Kraken. The Bitcoin price reacted only slightly negatively yesterday when the first people announced that they had received back the coins they had lost more than ten years ago.
In fact, it now looks more like the "early adopters" do not want to cash out. According to Ki Young Ju, the founder and CEO of on-chain analytics firm Cryptoquant, trading volumes on Kraken have not increased significantly as a result of the redemptions, as would have been the case with larger sales. Another indication that former Mt.Gox customers want to continue holding their Bitcoin is that more Bitcoin is flowing out of Kraken.
This could indicate that those who suffered losses at the time have learned from their mistake and are now taking the Bitcoin into their own custody, where it cannot be lost due to the misfortunes of third parties or even fraud. And anyone who has followed the phenomenal performance of the asset over the past ten years is likely to have come to the conclusion that holding Bitcoin and letting it lie is a promising strategy.
No selling pressure from Mt.Gox coins?
Some expected the Bitcoin price to come under significant pressure as soon as the Bitcoin reached the former Mt.Gox customers. A common assumption was that the majority of coins would be sold off immediately because the forced "hold " could have led to life-changing price gains in some cases. This is why the price plummeted by several percent at the end of June when it was announced that redemptions of Mt.Gox coins would begin in July.
Accordingly, the apparent lack of a sell-off of many thousands of Bitcoin is causing positive surprises - the asset is trading clearly positively today. The price of Bitcoin Cash, a spin-off from the Bitcoin network in 2017, fell much more sharply yesterday. As every Bitcoin holder received an equal share of Bitcoin Cash as part of the hard fork, but the network is a pipe-dream without any significant network effect or future prospects, former Mt.Gox customers appear to be selling off their Bitcoin Cash.
Repayments via the other exchanges - including BitGo, Bitstamp and Bitbank - are still pending. It remains to be seen whether a similar pattern will be observed there. If the expected selling pressure does indeed fail to materialize on the whole, this could result in a rising Bitcoin price.
Addendum
The crypto exchange Bitstamp announced today, on the afternoon of July 24, that it had received the Mt.Gox coins. Following security checks, Bitcoin will also be repaid to former Mt.Gox customers via this exchange in the coming days.