A downturn in Bitcoin (BTC) and the broader crypto market is intensifying following the news that the defunct crypto exchange Mt. Gox is proceeding with plans to distribute around $9 billion worth of digital assets.

Crypto data aggregator Coinglass reports that in the past 24 hours, over $313 million in positions have been liquidated, predominantly from traders holding long positions in BTC and Ethereum (ETH).

Once the world’s largest Bitcoin exchange, Mt. Gox declared bankruptcy after a significant portion of its coins were stolen. Despite recovering many of these coins, the exchange has been entangled in a prolonged bankruptcy process, attempting to reimburse its former customers. This situation has created considerable market uncertainty due to the potential sell pressure from offloading BTC to settle debts.

In a recent statement, Mt. Gox announced that repayments in BTC and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) will start from the beginning of July. The statement reads:

“We have taken time to ensure safe and reliable repayment to creditors, including technical remedies for safe repayments, compliance with financial regulations in each country, and discussion of repayment arrangements with the cryptocurrency exchanges. We will commence the repayments in the order of the cryptocurrency exchanges with which the Rehabilitation Trustee will complete the exchange and confirmation of the required information. Please wait for a while until the repayments are made.”

In May, former Mt. Gox CEO Mark Karpelès indicated that coin movements observed were part of the preparation for the upcoming distribution, expected to take place later this year. He stated:

“As far as I know everything is fine with Mt. Gox. The trustee is moving coins to a different wallet in preparation of the distribution that will likely happen this year, there is no imminent sale of bitcoins happening.”

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