Matrixport: Mt. Gox Repayments to Have Minimal Effect on Bitcoin Market

On Wednesday, Bitcoin (BTC) experienced an 8% drop during the US afternoon trading session due to rumors surrounding wallets linked to the defunct cryptocurrency exchange Mt. Gox and the US government making transactions, according to a report from crypto-services provider Matrixport on Thursday.

In the report, Matrixport analyzed the potential market impact of the Mt. Gox haul and concluded that such an event would have limited effect on the bitcoin price. However, investors should remain vigilant about the eventual distribution of those bitcoins, it said.

The Mt. Gox hack led to the theft of 850,000 bitcoins, valued at $500 million at the time and now worth $17.8 billion, with only 200,000 recovered.

Markus Thielen, head of research at Matrixport, noted, “Since not all of the stolen BTC could be recovered, only a fraction of the original amount held by creditors will be compensated.” Creditors will receive a base payment, with four options to receive the remainder of their funds, including early lump-sum repayment, repayment by bank remittance, repayment for a portion of crypto rehabilitation claims in crypto, or repayment through a fund transfer service provider.

According to the report, $1.7 billion in cash, 141,000 bitcoin, and another 142,000 bitcoin cash (BCH) will be distributed as part of a civil rehabilitation plan with a September 30 deadline for repayments.