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Mt. Gox ‘Bitcoin Whale’ Trustee Won’t Sell Any More BTC

Allen Scott · @bitcoinister | Jun 22, 2018 | 09:00

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The Tokyo District Court has approved the commencement of civil rehabilitation in the ongoing Mt. Gox bankruptcy — with the process to expected to start early next year. 

Mt. Gox Trustee Won’t Dump Any More Bitcoin

Mt. Gox creditors are one step closer to receive more than $450 per bitcoin lost. The Tokyo District Court ordered to stop the bankruptcy process and start the civil rehabilitation process.

The document published on Mt. Gox website today reveals the tentative schedule on how civil rehabilitation is expected to proceed. The Mt. Gox bankruptcy claims-filing system has also been temporarily suspended.

The latest update contains mostly good news for Bitcoin price bulls — at least for now.

The key takeaway is that the Mt. Gox Trustee, Nobuaki Kobayashi, won’t sell any more bitcoin — at least for the foreseeable future until the creditors are reimbursed in bitcoin sometime early to mid-2019, according to Tokyo-based Bloomberg reporter Yuji Nakamura.‏

As far as specific dates for future selling and distribution of Bitcoin (and its forks), the document explains that: 

At present, nothing has been determined regarding the sale of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies split from Bitcoin (collectively, “Bitcoin, etc.”) in the future.

The creditors will also be required to refile their claims by October 2018. Nevertheless, since Mt. Gox. still controls 137,890.96 BTC (almost $880 million USD) or 0.807 percent of all bitcoins currently in existence, any distribution of these funds could have an effect on cryptocurrency markets over the next year. 

Whale Watching

Kobayashi has been dubbed the ‘Mt. Gox Bitcoin Whale’ for selling $400 million in Bitcoin (BTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) from December 2017 to February 2018. For this reason, he was blamed for triggering the market downturn during the given period, though the trustee has denied having an impact on bitcoin price.

Kobayashi reiterated as much in today’s update. The document reads:

As in sales from December 2017 to February 2018, upon consultation with cryptocurrency 6 transaction experts, Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash were sold in a manner that had no effect on market price and not by ordinary sale on an exchange, while ensuring the security of the transaction to the extent possible.

Nevertheless, traders have kept a close eye on the Mt. Gox stash in an effort to predict potential selloffs and time the market.

The next creditors’ meeting to report on the status of the civil rehabilitation process is scheduled for September 26, 2018.

Does the Mt. Gox stash still have an effect on the Bitcoin and cryptocurrency markets? Share your thoughts below! 

Images courtesy of Shutterstock.