Over $600 million in cash and nearly another $600 million in Bitcoin is about to be distributed to a group of cryptocurrency traders - their next move will effect us all...

The biggest move in the Mt.Gox saga since members had their money stolen in 2014 - some of it is finally about to be returned!

The victims, who formed a group known as 'Mt. Gox Legal' say they've agreed to terms of settlement.

At the same time, the trustee who holds all of Mt.Gox's assets says he's ready to pay them - and he's holding over $600 million in cash, and nearly another $600 million worth of Bitcoin.

We learned last month where that cash came from, when a site named "GoxDox" leaked documents they claimed to exposed internal discussions of selling off BTC on BitPoint, an exchange - even though it was promised this would be done offline so the markets wouldn't crash from a flood of tokens for sale.  It all happened right around the crash of late 2017, giving people a new person to blame for the bear market.

Now some official documents have been shared, which states:

 "Rehabilitation Trustee hasestablished the trust as the measure to secure the interests of bankruptcy creditors and entrusted the amount of JPY 15,894,588,396 (including an amount expected to be appropriated for various expenses of the trust) in the trust" reads the portion regarding cash holdings "The amount of BTC held by the Rehabilitation Debtor as of March 18, 2019 is 141,686.35371099 BTC. The Rehabilitation Trustee has been still investigating the existence of additional BTC held by the Rehabilitation Debtor. If any BTC is found, the Rehabilitation Trustee will move them to the address managed. Further, the amount of BCH held by the Rehabilitation Debtor as of March 18, 2019 is 142,846.35166254 BCH" reads the portion regarding crypto holdings. 

So here's how everyone is hoping this plays out: The BTC is distributed, and those receiving it just HODL that.   Then at the same time, over $600 million in cash will be distributed to them as well - and they'll decide re-invest in cryptocurrency.

The question is - how many of these people are still into crypto?  While you may think having your tokens stolen and not getting any of them back for 5 years would leave you pretty angry, you're right.

But let's also factor in that all of their stolen Bitcoin was originally purchased for under $1000 - actually, most of it was purchased for way less as there was only a 4 month period in late 2013 where Bitcoin even went above $300, Mt.Gox collapsed right after it shot up to around $1000 towards the end of the year.

Another perspective - the group receiving this $600 million in cash and nearly $600 million in Bitcoin is made up of about 1000 people.  While some are getting a lot more than others, there's enough to give 1000 people $1 million each.

Some of those who were left jaded on crypto at the time, are about to become crypto-millionares.  Personally, i'd be surprised if they still hold a grudge,

Speaking to one of the settlement group members, they explained it this way 'I'm expecting a good amount, and i'll absolutely be purchasing more Bitcoin, and Ethereum, and a couple others" he says "but I stayed into crypto the whole time and took it as a lesson to never leave funds sitting on an exchange.  There's some among the group who never touched crypto after this, and spent 2017 struggling financially when they should have been multi-millionaires.   I don't see them coming back". 

So will they keep the Bitcoin and buy more? Sending the markets shooting back up.

Or sell the Bitcoin and keep the cash?  Causing yet another Mt.Gox related dip?

Based on my own interactions in various cryptocurrency communities online, I think the majority of Mt.Gox victims are still in the game, and ready to buy more.   I can't imagine a situation worse than 50/50, meaning those selling are balanced out by those spending the cash portion of their settlement on more.

But that's just a guess, and we'll soon have the answer. No date for the payments to be distributed is set yet, but things have been moving fast lately - expect it to happen soon.

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Author: Adam Lee 
Asia News Desk