German MP Joana Cotar, who has criticized her government for failing to hold bitcoin as a ‘strategic reserve currency,’ has revealed she holds the crypto as part of her portfolio.

Crypto accounts controlled by the German government received 1,915 BTC ($111.5 million) last night as part of an apparent ongoing sell-off. Cotar described the sale of bitcoin as ‘not sensible,’ and ‘counterproductive’ in a translated post on X (formerly Twitter). 

Cotar’s post included images of a letter she sent to Germany’s prime minister that asked the government to urgently “refrain from hastily selling the bitcoin in state possession.”

When asked if Cotar held any bitcoin, she told Protos, “A fraction of my portfolio is bitcoin.”

“Holding bitcoin as a strategic reserve asset could be helpful for any nation-state,” she added. “We work on these topics with experts like Samson Mow.”

Cotar is the founder of ‘Bitcoin in the Bundestag,’ a non-partisan initiative that hopes to educate politicians and citizens on Bitcoin. “As a member of the Bundestag, it is important to me to use my party-political independence to advocate for Bitcoin,” she said.  

Read more: Mt. Gox wallets hint at repayments — could the timing be worse?

Bitcoin prices have dropped this week as the US and German governments move large amounts of the currency to crypto exchanges. Additionally, the defunct exchange Mt. Gox also announced the start of repayments today and began moving 47,229 BTC ($2.71 billion) across to various parties. 

Bitcoin’s price fell below $54,000 this morning and currently sits at $55,470. According to Arkham Intelligence, the German government holds 41,224 BTC, worth almost $2.3 billion at the time of writing.

Got a tip? Send us an email or ProtonMail. For more informed news, follow us on X, Instagram, Bluesky, and Google News, or subscribe to our YouTube channel.

The post German MP Joana Cotar holds BTC and says the government should stop selling appeared first on Protos.

Bankrupt crypto exchange Mt. Gox transferred over 140,000 bitcoin, worth roughly $9 billion, this morning as it prepares for creditor repayment in a ‘secure manner.’

In total, 16 bitcoin transactions were sent from Mt. Gox wallets and correlated with a bitcoin price dip of almost 2%. This morning alone, multiple bitcoin transactions ranging from $1.4 million to $2.2 billion were sent to this address: 1JbezDVd9VsK9o1Ga9UqLydeuEvhKLAPs6. It first received nearly $4 worth of bitcoin on May 20. 

The address receiving the bitcoin has since sent almost 4,022 bitcoin, worth over $273 million, to further wallets. 

Mt. Gox said it is preparing to repay a portion of cryptocurrency rehabilitation claims either through the sale or direct transfer of crypto, whichever the creditor chooses.

However, after a series of inquiries and deep concern about its bitcoin management, the exchange clarified that “the Rehabilitation Trustee has neither made repayment… nor sold bitcoin and bitcoin cash to make repayment.”

“The Rehabilitation Trustee is currently managing bitcoin and bitcoin cash in a secure manner,” it added in an official statement.

Mt. Gox was one of the first crypto exchanges to be established but collapsed in February 2014. Roughly 240,000 creditors were affected and 850,000 bitcoin lost.

An account claiming to monitor outgoings ‘on all known addresses held by the Mt. Gox trustee’ reported that roughly 0.11645937 BTC worth $7,925 is left in wallets held by Mt. Gox.

Read more: Who owns MtGox claims to billions of dollars in bitcoin?

Users online have speculated that the latest transactions could be the first step in the crypto exchange repaying creditors. That said, some creditors were reportedly paid back 80% of their claim earlier this year after Mt. Gox began reaching out to confirm creditor account details. Some creditor repayments reportedly began last December.  

Got a tip? Send us an email or ProtonMail. For more informed news, follow us on X, Instagram, Bluesky, and Google News, or subscribe to our YouTube channel.

The post Mt. Gox hasn’t sold any of its 140,000 bitcoin but it’s planning to appeared first on Protos.

Creditors of hacked crypto exchange Mt. Gox have been contacted by its trustee to confirm their account details, as the firm gears up to repay them, with at least two creditors reportedly receiving funds.

In an email sent to several creditors, Mt. Gox’s rehabilitation trustee has confirmed the existence of their accounts and indicated that repayments of bitcoin and bitcoin cash are anticipated.

“Please note that you may not be able to receive repayment in BTC/BCH if your account is disabled of frozen in the future,” the email warned.

Several creditors have shared their copy of the email on Reddit. It appears that Bitstamp users and several Kraken users have received the confirmation.

Read more: Who owns MtGox claims to billions of dollars in bitcoin?

One creditor in Poland and another in Japan report receiving their repayments. They say 80% of their claim was returned in US dollars via a bank transfer.

The first Mt. Gox creditor repayments began in December 2023, with several reportedly receiving their repayments twice. In September, the repayment deadline was extended by a year to October 2024. At the time, the Mt. Gox estate held 142,000 bitcoin (worth $5.5 billion at press time), 143,000 bitcoin cash ($32 million), and 69 billion Japanese yen ($466 million).

Mt. Gox was one of the first crypto exchanges. It once facilitated over 70% of all bitcoin trades before it collapsed in 2014. Around 24,000 creditors were affected and 850,000 bitcoin was lost.

Got a tip? Send us an email or ProtonMail. For more informed news, follow us on X, Instagram, Bluesky, and Google News, or subscribe to our YouTube channel.

The post Mt. Gox repays some creditors, emails others to confirm accounts appeared first on Protos.