Nearly 10 years ago, the crypto exchange Mt. Gox filed for bankruptcy and about 24,000 users lost their Bitcoins. Now, the first customers are said to have received a refund.
How did the Bitcoins disappear? The former trading card platform Mt. Gox was the largest marketplace for Bitcoins in 2013, with 70% of Bitcoin transactions taking place through the platform 10 years ago. However, on February 7, 2014, Mt. Gox suddenly halted all withdrawals.
By the end of February 2014, the CEO of the exchange had resigned, the website was taken offline, and the company had filed for bankruptcy. Additionally, the platform claimed that it had lost 750,000 Bitcoins belonging to its customers due to a cyberattack. This was worth approximately $473 million at the time, equivalent to 428 million euros at today’s exchange rate.
Approximately 24,000 customers were affected by the website’s collapse, waiting years for their money. In November 2023, it was announced that the first creditors would be paid out. Now, users are said to have received at least part of their money back, but there is a catch (via 3D Juegos).
Some users are reportedly receiving their money back twice
What is the current development? On December 26, 2023, some users reported on social media that they had received their money back from Mt. Gox. They shared screenshots of incoming payments. Some users are said to have received their money back even twice (via Reddit).
What is the catch then? It appears that only customers who opted for a payout the old-fashioned way have been paid out so far. There are currently no reports of users who have received their lost cryptocurrency back.
The refunded amount corresponds to the value that the Bitcoins had at that time; around 422 million euros are expected to be paid out to customers. The lost 750,000 Bitcoins would now be worth 28.8 billion euros at today’s exchange rate (as of December 31, 2023).
Even though users are likely to be happy with their payout, it is only a relatively small part of what they could have today under better conditions. Nevertheless, some probably had not expected to receive anything at all after such a long time.
