Defunct cryptocurrency exchange Mt. Gox reportedly moved 12,000 BTC, valued at approximately $709.44 million, to an unknown wallet late Tuesday night, according to blockchain analytics firm Arkham. The transaction occurred at around 11:39 p.m. UTC, with the bitcoin transferred to the wallet address “1PuQB…nWhTb.” Additionally, 1,264.69 BTC, worth around $74.77 million, was sent to another address identified by Arkham as a cold wallet belonging to Mt. Gox.
These bitcoin transfers have not yet been moved to other addresses, raising speculation about their purpose. Last week, Arkham reported that a wallet, likely associated with cryptocurrency exchange BitGo, transferred a substantial portion of nearly $2 billion in bitcoin, received from Mt. Gox, to a separate wallet.
Historically, such large bitcoin movements have signaled the impending repayment of Mt. Gox’s creditors through platforms like Bitstamp and Kraken. The current activity could indicate that these creditor repayments, long-awaited since Mt. Gox’s collapse in 2014, are nearing completion.
Mt. Gox was once the world’s largest bitcoin exchange before a massive security breach in 2014 resulted in the loss of at least 850,000 BTC. Thousands of creditors have since been awaiting the return of their bitcoin, a process that has seen significant developments in recent weeks.