In an ongoing saga that has gripped the cryptocurrency world for almost a decade, Nobuaki Kobayashi, the trustee overseeing the bankruptcy proceedings of Mt. Gox, just recently announced a one-year deadline extension for repaying creditors.
According to a court document released on Sept. 21, Kobayashi outlined his hopes that repayments to creditors who have actively provided the necessary information may commence as soon as the end of 2023.
Deadline Pushed to October 2024
The deadline has been pushed to October 31, 2024, from October 31, 2023, an extension applying to all repayment categories. As per the reports, a Tokyo District Court already permitted Mt. Gox to make the alterations. The document says:
“With permission of the Tokyo District Court, the Rehabilitation Trustee has changed the deadline of the Base Repayment, the Early Lump-Sum Repayment, and Intermediate Repayment from October 31, 2023 (Japan Time) to October 31, 2024 (Japan Time), respectively.”
The trustee mentioned that these plans are subject to alterations depending on the evolving circumstances. As such, he did not provide any specific timeline for when each creditor will be partially repaid. Creditors who already submitted their information will start getting repayments as early as the end of the year.
Although the estate has a turbulent past, Mt. Gox still holds substantial virtual assets. As per recent reports, this estate currently holds about 142,000 Bitcoin (BTC), 143,000 Bitcoin Cash (BCH), and 69 billion Japanese yen (JPY).
While Mt. Gox fully collapsed in 2014, its problems began early in 2011 when it was hit with a major hack. About 24 thousand creditors lost a staggering 850,000 BTC in the fallout. However, other reports indicate that the amount of coins stolen was closer to 980,000 Bitcoin, meaning billions in losses.
The deadline has been pushed before. Earlier this year, it was moved from Sept. 30 to Oct. 31 following an extension of the registration period for the BTC repayment process. This period was extended from March 10 to April 6.
Hope for Creditors at Last
According to reports, creditors of Mt. Gox were granted the opportunity for an online vote on a proposed rehabilitation plan in recent years. This latest announcement spells a glimmer of hope for creditors engaged in their debacle since 2014.
As the Mt. Gox debacle is rushing towards its end, other bigger problems are ensuing in the crypto space. Investors in FTX and other recently fallen networks are also closely monitoring proceedings and awaiting repayment.
