Mt. Gox creditors offered fresh hope with new ‘commencement of repayment’ email

The Mt. Gox trustee announced the redemption of $47 million in trust assets amid social media reports suggesting repayment to creditors could start in 2023.

Creditors of Mt. Gox, a now-defunct Bitcoin (BTC) exchange that lost 850,000 BTC to a hack in 2014, have reportedly received a new email hinting at soon-to-come repayments.

Nobuaki Kobayashi, the trustee overseeing the Mt. Gox Bitcoin exchange’s estate, on Nov. 21 started sending out emails to rehabilitation creditors regarding the commencement of repayment, according to multiple social media reports.

According to the alleged Kobayashi’s email circulating on social media, the trustee plans to start the first repayments to creditors in cash in 2023. Kobayashi expects to continue the repayments in 2024, but did not provide the specific timing of repayments to individual rehabilitation creditors. According to the email:

“Due to the large number of rehabilitation creditors who will receive repayment, the varying types of repayments, the different preparation and processing times required to make the repayment, repayments will continue into 2024.”

The social media reports came as Mt. Gox trustee issued an announcement on the redemption of trust assets on Nov. 22. According to the official document, the rehabilitation trustee received the redemption of 7 billion Japanese yen ($47 million) to fund the repayment of the claims. The statement noted that the trust assets after such redemption amounted to 8.8 billion JPY, or roughly $59 million.

The Mt. Gox trustee was previously expected to repay the exchange’s creditors by the end of October 2023. In September 2023, the trustee officially moved the repayment deadline to October 2024.

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This is a developing story, and further information will be added as it becomes available.