Mt. Gox Starts Paying Creditors After Nearly a Decade Later

• Creditors of the collapsed Mt. Gox exchange receive repayments in Japanese Yen via PayPal, almost ten years after the platform’s shutdown.
• Repayments are executed in multiple tranches to ensure equitable distribution among fiat and crypto creditors.
• Despite delays in the repayment schedule, some creditors have started receiving funds as of late 2022, with further distributions planned into 2024.

Nearly ten years after its notorious collapse, the defunct Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox is reportedly issuing repayments to creditors. This development marks a significant milestone in one of the cryptocurrency world’s most prolonged and closely watched sagas.

Reports on Social Media

On December 26, multiple posts on the Reddit page r/mtgoxinsolvency started to emerge, indicating that creditors were receiving repayments in Japanese Yen through PayPal. These reports represent the first substantial progress in returning funds to users since the exchange’s shutdown in February 2014.

Creditor Experiences

Reddit users have been actively sharing their experiences, with some expressing initial skepticism about the legitimacy of the emails, only to confirm actual receipt of funds. One user reported receiving only a portion of their claim, highlighting the complexity of the repayment process.

The repayment to creditors is structured in several tranches, including a base repayment, an early lump-sum, and an intermediate repayment. This structure, along with the assignment of “voting rights” to standardize the claims, aims to ensure a fair distribution to both fiat and crypto creditors.

The first signs of these repayments emerged on December 21, as reported by a pseudonymous Japanese user on social media. Additionally, Nobuaki Kobayashi, the trustee overseeing the Mt. Gox estate, had previously announced plans to start repayments in 2023, with a continuation expected into 2024.

Despite the progress, the repayment process has experienced delays, with the original deadline pushed from October 31, 2023, to the same date in 2024. However, for some creditors who provided the necessary information, repayments began as early as the end of 2022.