$2.5 Billion Bitcoin Mystery Stuns Cryptocurrency Community

U.Today - The crypto market once again turns heads with extraordinary activity, as Whale Alert reports that 37,477 BTC, worth over $2.5 billion USD, have been transferred between unknown wallets. This development raises the question: who is behind these anonymous wallets?

However, data from Arkham Intelligence provides a potential answer, identifying both the sender's and recipient's addresses as belonging to Mt. Gox.

Originally a platform for trading cards in the game "Magic: The Gathering," Mt. Gox transformed into the world's leading Bitcoin exchange in 2010, capitalizing on the burgeoning cryptocurrency market.

By 2014, it dominated the space, handling over 70% of all Bitcoin transactions. However, Mt. Gox's success story took a dark turn due to hacking incidents that resulted in substantial BTC losses, ultimately leading to its bankruptcy in 2014 and the shuttering of its operations.

What's going on?Mt. Gox has been in the spotlight this year as it works to repay creditors following its bankruptcy. The repayment process began this month, July 2024, with the exchange transferring BTC from its wallets, likely to prepare for creditor payouts. Today's transfers appear to be part of this repayment process.

Further supporting this theory, Spot On Chain reports that Mt. Gox moved 2,239 BTC, equivalent to $149 million, to Bitstamp just four hours ago. To fulfill the July repayment plan, Mt. Gox deposited 1,545 BTC, worth $83.5 million, to Bitbank, on July 5. It moved 48,641 BTC, equivalent to $3.06 billion, to the wallet "3JQie," likely a Kraken deposit, on July 16. Today, July 23, it transferred 2,239 BTC, worth nearly $149 million, to Bitstamp.

In response to these developments, the price of Bitcoin has fallen by nearly 1.3%, with the leading cryptocurrency currently trading at $66,666.

Source: Investing.com