Mt. Gox Trustee Extends Creditor Repayment Deadline to 31 October 2027
Key Facts
Nobuaki Kobayashi, the rehabilitation trustee for Mt. Gox, extended the deadline for repayments to creditors to 31 October 2027, Japan time, with court approval. In a notice dated 16 October 2026, he said the previous deadline was 31 October 2026, Japan time. The extension covers base repayments, early lump-sum repayments and intermediate repayments as part of the process of returning funds to the exchange's creditors. The trustee attributed the continued wait for many creditors to their having "not completed the necessary procedures to receive repayments." He added that other creditors had not received their repayments because of problems that arose during the repayment process.
Previous repayment delays were linked to the complexities of collecting and verifying creditor information and coordinating transfers through the parties involved in the process. In the notice extending the deadline to 2024, the trustee cited the time needed to complete these steps with banks, fund transfer service providers and designated cryptocurrency exchanges. In a subsequent notice on preparations for repayment, he said the work included addressing technical aspects to ensure the security of payments. Preparations also included compliance with financial regulations in each relevant country, alongside the technical requirements for transfers. Implementation also required discussions with cryptocurrency exchanges to agree on arrangements for returning assets to creditors.
The creditors' claims stem from an exchange that ceased operations in 2014 after the theft came to light, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. The rehabilitation plan governing repayments became final and binding on 16 November 2021, according to the trustee's notice on its legal status. In an update dated 16 July 2024, the trustee announced that more than 13,000 creditors had received bitcoin and bitcoin cash. The reported number rose to more than 19,500 creditors in an update on 27 March 2025. Alongside cryptocurrency distributions, the repayment mechanism included cash payments to some creditors from "the proceeds from the sale of bitcoin and bitcoin cash," according to the March update.
Cryptocurrency exchanges participated in the distributions, with Bitstamp announcing on 24 July 2024 that it had begun returning recovered digital assets to Mt. Gox creditors. Kraken said in its frequently asked questions page, updated on 31 March 2025, that "the second round of distributions has been sent to clients." Completion of payments depends on verifying the validity of accounts registered by creditors, according to the conditions announced by the trustee. Those conditions also include acceptance of agency receipt arrangements at the exchanges participating in repayments. They also require completion of implementation discussions and confirmation of payment security before transfers to eligible recipients are completed.
Anticipation of the return of cryptocurrency to creditors coincided with pressure on bitcoin during the distribution phase in July 2024. Reuters reported in an update dated 5 July 2024 that the cryptocurrency fell as much as 8% during the day to $53,523 amid concerns over sales of the returned assets. Creditors also faced fraudulent messages exploiting repayment dates, according to a warning issued by the trustee about impersonation of the exchange. He warned of messages falsely claiming that the repayment date had been brought forward and urging recipients to access fake websites. The warning covered websites and messages impersonating Mt. Gox and targeting creditors awaiting repayment.
For claims follow-up, the trustee directed creditors in the 16 October 2026 notice to submit inquiries through the online claims system. He asked them to log in to the system before submitting repayment-related questions. He designated the inquiry form in the frequently asked questions section as the channel for submitting those requests. Completion of the required procedures by creditors and resolution of execution problems remain part of the work needed to settle outstanding repayments, according to the extension notice. The approved deadline for completing the repayment categories covered by the decision is now 31 October 2027, Japan time.