Mt. Gox moves $2.7B in Bitcoin to new wallet address

The collapsed Japanese crypto exchange Mt. Gox has transferred 47,229 Bitcoin (BTC) — worth $2.71 billion at current prices — to a new wallet address in its first major transaction since May.

According to blockchain analytics platform Arkham Intelligence, the exchange transferred the Bitcoin at 12:30 am UTC on July 5 out from “cold storage.”

*Mt. Gox has made several smaller test transactions in recent months. Source: Arkham Intelligence*

The movement comes amid the exchange’s scheduled plan to begin repaying creditors this month. A total of $8.5 billion worth of Bitcoin is slated to be paid back to creditors.

Mt Gox informed creditors that it had completed all the necessary steps to start begin issuing repayments beginning in July, according to a June 24 statement from Mt. Gox trustee Nobuaki Kobayashi.

Mt. Gox trustee Nobuaki Kobayashi said creditor repayments would commence i

Several market commentators voiced concerns over the sheer volume of Bitcoin that could hit the market following Mt. Gox creditors selling their holdings, which have been inaccessible for more than ten years.

However, other analysts worked to allay fears of a massive sell-off, saying the total amount of Bitcoin that stands to be “dumped” on the market is probably closer to a value of around $4.5 billion.

Related: German MP urges government to stop ‘hasty’ Bitcoin sell-off

Galaxy Digital head of research Alex Thorn said many of the Mt. Gox speculated that many of the Mt. Gox Bitcoin holders would be more “diamond-handed” than expected and pointed to the potential adverse capital gains tax impact for sellers who wished to dump the entirety of their BTC in one go.

On May 28, Mt. Gox transferred nearly $7.3 billion worth of Bitcoin to another unknown wallet address. The price of Bitcoin dipped as much as 2% afterward.