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CryptoMedium•27 February 2026•

1 min read

Mt. Gox Former CEO Proposes Bitcoin Hard Fork to Recover $5.2 Billion in Stolen BTC

Key Facts

1Former Mt. Gox CEO Mark Karpelès proposed a hard fork to recover 80,000 BTC stolen in a 2011 security breach.

2The value of the bitcoin targeted for recovery is estimated at approximately $5.2 billion.

3The proposal requires a coordinated network upgrade and carries the risk of a chain split if consensus is not reached.

Former Mt. Gox CEO Mark Karpelès has proposed a Bitcoin hard fork to recover 80,000 BTC stolen during a 2011 security breach. The targeted assets are currently valued at approximately $5.2 billion, representing one of the most significant recovery attempts in crypto history. While the move aims to compensate victims, it directly challenges Bitcoin's core principle of immutability and decentralized governance. Implementing the proposal would require a coordinated network upgrade, carrying a substantial risk of a contentious chain split if consensus is not reached. Market analysts suggest that such a move could introduce volatility to BTC/USD as the community debates the trade-off between asset recovery and protocol integrity.

Sources:

theblock.co