Mt. Gox Payout Deadline Postponed Again, Next Bitcoin Price Dump In 2023?

One concern for Bitcoin investors has taken a back seat in recent weeks and months amid macroeconomic headwinds and crypto-intrinsic contagion effects: the release of recovered BTC from Mt Gox. Originally, users of what was once the largest Bitcoin exchange were supposed to file their claims by January 10, 2023. Shortly after that, payouts were to begin, according to an October statement.

However, the deadline has already been pushed back countless times. And as a document released today by rehabilitation trustee Nobuaki Kobayashi shows, Mt. Gox claimants will have to continue to be patient. The deadline for repayment method selection and registration is postponed from January 10, 2023, to March 10, 2023 (Japan time) to “take into account various circumstances, such as the progress of rehabilitation creditors in terms of selection and registration.”

The document goes on to say that after that date, Kobayashi will begin confirming registrations “in order to make the repayment as soon as possible after March 10, 2023.” Following this change, Kobayashi has also changed the base repayment deadline, early lump-sum repayment deadline, and intermediate repayment deadline from July 31, 2023, to September 30, 2023.

According to the rehabilitation plan, victims of the Mt. Gox hack will be reimbursed a total of 141,686 Bitcoin (BTC), the equivalent of about $2.37 billion. Because of that, concerns about a massive price drop have been circulating in the crypto space for some time. The question is whether the Mt. Gox Bitcoin situation will push the price into heavy losses once again.

However, looking at the facts, this does not seem very likely. There is a lot of false information circulating on Twitter. But the fact is that Bitcoin will not be dumped on the market all at once.

Not all of Mt. Gox’s customers are likely to sell their Bitcoins, although customers may enjoy enormously high returns by already holding them involuntarily. Moreover, Kobayashi will not release all Bitcoins at once, rather the whole process will take several months – from March to the end of September according to the current schedule.

And even if a large portion of BTC is dumped, it is very likely that the market can easily handle the additional liquidity. The impact is likely to be small, as the daily trading volume would still be enough to cushion the selling, even at the historic low of around $15 billion.

At press time, BTC was trading at $16,739 and struggling with support at $16,740. Ideally, the Bitcoin price needs to hold above $16,600 to avoid a slide below $16,000 and maintain upside momentum. If this is successful, a move to the upside towards $17,000 could be possible, where the next key resistance is waiting.