Defunct Bitcoin Exchange Mt.Gox To Begin Realising Stolen Funds

The Shuttered Japanese Bitcoin Exchange Mt.Gox has announced it will begin to pay back its customers in "due course."

Eight years ago, Mt.Gox was forced to shut down after a sudden and debilitating hack, leaving its user's funds locked up in the blockchain.

But now, according to a notice released on Wednesday to its users by Mt.Gox trustee Nobuaki Kobayashi, Mt.Gox defrauded customers have until September 15 to make or transfer a claim.

The long-dormant exchange- once the largest in the world- closed its doors in 2014 after being hacked for 850,000 Bitcoins (today worth $16.8 billion).

Throughout the years since users of the exchange have been eagerly awaiting, The result of a long, arduous legal battle with the announced Mt.Gox rehabilitation program being delayed multiple times and Ex CEO of MT. Gox being hit with a lawsuit for fraud and negligence.

"The Base Repayment Deadline is set by the Rehabilitation Trustee with the permission of the court as the date deemed appropriate for repayment and will be set in due course," Wednesday's notice read.

All users who lost funds will receive a base payment," the document said, with the option to get the rest of the funds in an early sum payment or accept it all later. Creditors who do not make the September 15th deadline may not get their refunds processed, the document added.

The base repayment deadline is yet to be announced.

Rumors began to swirl on Tuesday that creditors would be receiving their refunds this week, but those were quickly dispelled by former users on Twitter, with former Arcane Assets Chief Investment Officer Eric Wall stating, “PSA: MtGox is *NOT* distributing any coins this week, or the next week, or the week after that. Source: I’m a MtGox creditor. The repayment system is not live yet.”

Some within the industry have begun to worry that releasing these funds could lead to the price of Bitcoin crashing to new lows. But the current programs seem to be built with this in mind, as the plan involves the distribution of Bitcoin and cash from liquidated Bitcoin in groups. No official date has been given on when this process will begin, the documented noted.

Mt.Gox users should rejoice at this news; after all these years, some had probably given up on receiving these funds but now can look forward to maybe buying a new home or car depending on how many satoshis they had stacked back in 2014.