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Kraken Secures 48,641 Bitcoin From Mt. Gox, What Happens Next?
Godfrey Benjamin
Kraken will distribute over 48,641 Bitcoins to Mt. Gox beneficiaries
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Crypto exchange Kraken is said to have received $48,641 Bitcoin (BTC) from the defunct Mt. Gox exchange. This update from Arkham Intelligence comes just hours after the retired exchange transferred massive amounts of Bitcoin to an internal wallet.
Bitcoin Transfer from Mt. Gox to Kraken
Arkham, an on-chain crypto data platform, said that a wallet address linked to Kraken received 48,641 BTC worth about $3.1 billion from Mt. Gox. Note that Kraken is one of the exchanges chosen by Mt. Gox to help distribute BTC to creditors who lost funds in the 2014 hack.
Notably, Kraken acknowledged the Bitcoin received from Mt. Gox and promised to begin repaying it within 7-14 days. In an update, Kraken said that creditors will only receive amounts determined by Mt. Gox trustees and will distribute them according to their instructions.
In the meantime, our previous item released this morning shows Mt. Gox moving $2.4 billion in BTC to an undisclosed wallet address. Given the expected refund process, this movement signaled the distribution of funds to victims of the hack.
However, Arkham highlighted in his recent update that $2.74 billion of BTC transferred today is still held by Mt. Gox. The defunct exchange archived for bankruptcy in 2014 after suffering a notorious hack that resulted in the loss of approximately 850,000 BTC. Therefore, Kraken’s receipt of funds provides relief to Mt. Gox creditors who have been patiently awaiting recovery for nearly a decade.
Bitcoin’s Response to Mt. Gox Transfers
Bitcoin, the world’s leading digital asset, has fallen sharply from $65,000 to $62,000 in response to this morning’s massive transfer from Mt. Gox. This is likely due to investor concerns that a potential sell-off could occur as repayment to Mt. Gox creditors begins.
Despite this, BTC quickly changed hands, settling at $63,720 at the time of writing.
About the author
Godfrey Benjamin
Godfrey Benjamin is a cryptocurrency journalist whose main goal is to inform everyone around him about the prospects of Web 3.0. His love for cryptocurrency began when, as a former banker, he discovered the obvious advantages of decentralized money over traditional payments. Due to his vast experience in covering various aspects of Web3, Godfrey’s articles have been published on Blockchain.news, Cryptonews, and Coingape, among others.