Over half of Mt. Gox creditors have been compensated, with some creditors receiving payments. The handling of this unexpected windfall has become a topic of concern.
More than 13,000 creditors have been compensated with Bitcoin (BTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH), which is more than half of the approximately 24,000 creditors. As of July 17th, the trustee still holds 140,000 BTC to be distributed gradually.
Different exchanges have varying payment times for the creditors. Kraken’s payment may take up to 90 days, Bitstamp may take 60 days, BitGo will show payments within 20 days, and SBI VC Trade and Bitbank will complete payments within 14 days. Therefore, creditors may have to wait up to three months to receive their BTC or BCH.
In a Reddit poll, Kraken was the preferred choice for creditors, with 64.7% of participants voting for it. Some exchanges have already received the compensation funds and transferred them to the creditors. For example, Bitbank, a Japanese crypto exchange, promptly transferred the BTC compensation to creditors within hours of receiving it. Kraken also announced that it has successfully received funds from the Mt. Gox trustee. However, it may take 7-14 days to allocate the funds to the creditors’ accounts.
Some creditors have reported unauthorized login attempts on their accounts. There are concerns that this could be a “brute-force” attack on Mt. Gox creditors, while others believe it could be a website malfunction. The Mt. Gox website has entered maintenance mode following these incidents.
With the distribution of the compensation, creditors are discussing how to handle their assets. While some plan to hold onto their Bitcoin, others are considering selling a portion of their holdings. A majority of participants in a poll chose to continue holding their Bitcoin, while some are looking to invest in real estate or buy luxury items.
The issue of taxation also arises for creditors who sell their assets and need to pay crypto taxes, which can be a significant expense. Some creditors are uncertain about the tax implications and seek guidance on selling their Bitcoin or continuing to hold it.
There are also concerns about which exchanges have received the funds and which ones still have outstanding funds.
As the Bitcoin price continues to rise, some creditors wonder if they will regret selling their Bitcoin too early, especially if the price reaches $250,000, $500,000, or even $1 million.