Mt. Gox: Why Refunds are Sending the Bitcoin Price Down

The Mt. Gox saga: From early Bitcoin exchange dominance to bankruptcy, ongoing repayments, and the ripple effects on today's Bitcoin price, this is a bit of a wild tale.

The Mt. Gox story: A Bitcoin rollercoaster

Mt. Gox began its life in 2010, not as a cryptocurrency exchange, but as a platform for trading "Magic: The Gathering" cards.

The name itself is a shortened form of "Magic: The Gathering Online Exchange." But the platform quickly pivoted to Bitcoin trading. By early 2014, was handling over 70% of all Bitcoin transactions worldwide.

This made Mt Gox the largest and most influential Bitcoin exchange, playing a crucial role in the cryptocurrency's early adoption.

The hack that shook the Bitcoin world

In February 2014, disaster struck. Mt. Gox abruptly halted trading, closed its website, and filed for bankruptcy protection. The cause? A massive security breach resulting in the loss of approximately 850,000 Bitcoins – worth hundreds of millions of dollars at the time. (But in June of 2024, they are worth more than US$51bn.)

This staggering loss sent shockwaves through the cryptocurrency community and had a chilling effect on Bitcoin's price.

A long road to repayment

All was not lost, however. The stolen Mt. Gox Bitcoin was partially recovered. In February 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice announced the seizure of $3.6 billion worth of stolen Bitcoin, and some of that BTC was traced to the Mt Gox hack.

In a landmark decision in late 2021, creditors and the Tokyo District Court finally agreed on a rehabilitation plan, paving the way for partial repayments. (While it was started in the USA, it was relocated to Japan in 2011).

Why the Mt Gox refunds are affecting the Bitcoin price

The price of Bitcoin is down at the time of writing.

But what has that got to do with the Mt Gox refund?

Unlike some other cryptocurrency exchange collapses where creditors are refunded in fiat currency based on the value of their holdings at the time of the collapse, Mt. Gox creditors are being refunded in kind with actual Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash.

While this is a positive step for those who lost funds, it's also causing renewed volatility in the Bitcoin market.

The fear is that a large influx of previously lost Bitcoin could flood the market, potentially driving down the price.

Are Mt Gox Bitcoiners up on their investment?

The value of the refunded Bitcoin from Mt. Gox has jumped wildly. Considering that Mt. Gox ceased operations in 2014 and Bitcoin's price has risen exponentially since then, the value of the refunded Bitcoin is now many times higher than its original value.

While this seems like a bonanza, most investors will only be partially refunded. Also they bought at different times, meaning some will have more gains than others.

What This Means for Bitcoin's Future

While the Mt. Gox story is a cautionary tale, it's also a testament to Bitcoin's resilience. Mt Gox was created in the very early days of cryptocurrency. Security wasn't as fly as it is today. As the crypto world matures, hopefully such hacks will be a thing of the past.

What we are learning though, is that many factors put pressure on the price of Bitcoin. However they seem to be just temporary, and Bitcoin is still standing after the dust has settled. Nothing has taken it down yet, and big institutional money is moving in.

Is it time to buy Bitcoin? Is this a good juncture to get a Bitcoin bargain? Only your future self can answer that question.