Defunct Mt. Gox’s suspected Bitgo $2.1B BTC wallet Starts test transactions: Report

Key Takeaways

•  Currently, the wallet holds 33,105 Bitcoin, valued at $1.96 billion
• The wallet had been dormant for two weeks after receiving the Bitcoin

A wallet that received $2.19 billion in Bitcoin from the defunct crypto exchange Mt. Gox has initiated a test transaction at 10:57 UTC. As per blockchain intelligence firm Arkham, the wallet, identified as bc1q26, is suspected to be associated with Bitgo, the fifth and final exchange responsible for distributing funds to Mt. Gox creditors.

Currently, the wallet holds 33,105 Bitcoin, valued at $1.96 billion, at the time of writing this article. The Bitcoin was transferred to the wallet on July 30 at 11:28 pm UTC. At that time, the value of the Bitcoin was $2.19 billion. However, due to market fluctuations, the value has decreased by about $23 million, with Bitcoin priced around $58,900 as of August 13.

The wallet had been dormant for two weeks after receiving the Bitcoin. Since the initiation of the test transaction, there has been no further activity reported. According to CryptoQuant, 67.7% of the Mt. Gox distribution process had been completed 19 hours ago.

The latest development comes a month after Mt. Gox announced that it would begin repaying its debts to creditors impacted by the 2014 exploit, in BTC and Bitcoin Cash(BCH). Currently, over $3.2 billion in BTC had been distributed to creditors.

When the rehabilitation plan was announced, many crypto enthusiasts opined that the potential influx of BTC into the market could create selling pressure, as early investors may choose to liquidate their assets, which have significantly appreciated in value. However, the market had not witnessed a related fall in the price of the assets.

Mt. Gox was once the leading Bitcoin exchange globally, managing over 70% of all Bitcoin transactions. However, a series of unnoticed hacks between 2011 and 2014 led to the loss of 850,000 Bitcoin, causing the exchange to shut down in 2014. The collapse had left approximately 127,000 creditors in financial limbo.