Mt. Gox Starts Paying Creditors Via PayPal After Nearly A Decade

Mt. Gox, the Bitcoin exchange platform based in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan that filed for bankruptcy in March 2014, reportedly started paying some of its creditors via PayPal.

The platform, which used to handle 70% of all Bitcoin transactions worldwide, appeared to have begun repaying customers who lost 950,000 BTC, now valued at approximately $36 billion.

This latest development, confirmed on various social media and seemingly originated from Reddit, came at the heels of Mt.Gox hinting at making Bitcoin payouts before the end of the year.

In a Reddit thread, several users claimed to have received payments from the now-defunct Bitcoin exchange distributed via Japanese Yen-denominated refund on PayPal.

It is worth noting, however, that those who opted to receive refunds in cash and on their bank accounts claimed to have not gotten any payment.

Founded in 2010, Mt.Gox used to be the largest Bitcoin exchange platform exchange. However, it fell prey to malicious actors who hacked the platform in 2014.

While 20% of stolen funds were recovered, its estate earlier this year extended the deadline for repaying customers by 12 months until October 2024.

"The Rehabilitation Trustee is currently preparing to make the Base Repayment, the Early Lump-Sum Repayment and the Intermediate Repayment. However, given the time required for rehabilitation creditors to provide the necessary information, and for the Rehabilitation Trustee to confirm such information and engage in discussions and share information with banks, fund transfer service providers and Designated Cryptocurrency Exchanges etc., involved in the repayments, which are required before the repayments can be made, the Rehabilitation Trustee will not be able to complete the repayments above by the deadline of the Base Repayment, the Early Lump-Sum Repayment and the Intermediate Repayment, all of which were set for October 31, 2023," Mt. Gox trustee Nobuaki Kobayashi said in a September letter.

"Please note that the schedule is subject to change depending on the circumstances, and the specific timing of repayments to each rehabilitation creditor has not yet been determined," the trustee further said.

Some Bitcoin holders expressed worry that Mt.Gox's repayment could have an impact on the price of the world's largest crypto asset by market capitalization because of the volume of tokens being released, which is around 950,000 BTC.

To this day, the reason behind the hack, which was valued at $450 million at the time, remains unclear. However, many speculate that it may have something to do with potential insider involvement and poor security measures in place.

Creditor repayments are scheduled to be disbursed in several portions, including the base repayment, early-lumpsum repayment and the intermediate repayment.