Mt. Gox is preparing to make refunds

It’s official: on September 15 Mt. Gox will begin the procedure that will lead to creditor refunds. 

This was announced by the bankruptcy administrator in a statement posted on the website of the former exchange, which went bankrupt in 2014. 

The statement said that the start date of the repayment allocation period, set by the court’s authorization, is Sept. 15, 2022. 

Mt. Gox’s refunds will begin on September 15.

This, however, neither means that the 141,000 BTC that Mt. Gox still has on hand will be distributed on September 15 nor does it mean that on September 15 creditors will start receiving refunds. It only means that the repayment procedure begins, which could also be very long, given how long the procedure as a whole has been so far. 

However, the statement reads: 

“The Rehabilitation Trustee is currently preparing to make repayments in accordance with the approved rehabilitation plan of which confirmation order of the Tokyo District Court was made final and binding on November 16, 2021” 

September 15, in effect, constitutes the end of the preparatory phase, because after that date creditors will not be able to demand anything, and the beginning of the long phase of repayments. 

All the rumors circulated in recent weeks that the drop in Bitcoin’s market price could be due to the start of Mt.Gox’s repayments are, therefore, denied. 

Moreover, the redemption procedure will itself be divided into two phases, the start dates of which are not yet known. 

The first phase: redemptions in fiat currency

During the first phase, the receiver will sell part of the BTC and BCH still held by Mt.Gox on the market to cash in fiat currency with which to repay those creditors who have opted for fiat currency repayment. Such creditors, in fact, have priority over others. 

It is not known how many creditors have made this choice, so it is also not known how many BTC or BCH the receiver will have to sell in the markets. 

The second phase: redemptions in BTC and BCH.

Once this first phase is finished with fiat currency repayments, the second phase will begin, which involves repaying other creditors with the remaining BTC and BCH after the sale. 

It is possible to imagine, however, that many creditors have opted for this second option, i.e., repayment in cryptocurrencies because especially the many creditors who are entitled to small or very small repayments would have little to gain if they were to receive very small amounts in fiat currency after eight years. It is also possible to imagine that they would be unlikely to sell the received cryptocurrencies at the current very low market prices. 

The main problem seems to be related, on the one hand, to the sale of BTC and BCH that the curator will necessarily have to make for fiat currency repayments, and on the other hand, to the behavior of possible large creditors who have chosen repayment in cryptocurrencies.

It is unclear whether the receiver has already prepared in recent months to proceed with the fiat currency repayments by selling some of the cryptocurrencies still held by Mt.Gox at decidedly attractive prices. The fact that he states that he is currently preparing to make redemptions may also hint at this possibility.