Mt.Gox customers have reported attempts to hack their accounts

What’s new? On July 5, the crypto exchange Mt.Gox, which went bankrupt back in 2014, launched a process to return cryptocurrencies to customers through third-party exchanges. According to the plan, assets were sent to Kraken, Bitstamp, BitGo, SBI VC Trade, and Bitbank platforms, from where they are distributed to affected users. At the same time, over the past 24 hours, there have been numerous reports from users about unauthorized attempts to log into their Mt.Gox accounts.

Discussion on Reddit

What else is known? Reddit forum users in the r/mtgoxinsolvency section of the Mt.Gox bankruptcy forum are claiming attempts to hack into their accounts, with some also reporting problems logging into accounts on the exchange’s website. One user said he received 15 notifications of failed login attempts, after which he was unable to log in on his own. Commentators put forward two main versions: an attack by hackers or a failure in the work of the portal.

At the same time, the scenario with a planned attack raises questions, since the coins have already been transferred to third-party exchanges for compensation. In addition, the Mt.Gox portal does not allow changing payment data, and fraudsters will not be able to specify their details in case of a successful hack.

Later, the Mt.Gox portal for applying for payouts posted a placard saying that it was temporarily closed for maintenance.

A total of 142 000 Bitcoins and 143 000 Bitcoin Cash will be returned to creditors, totaling $9,3 billion at current prices, as well as 69 billion Japanese yen. The exchange has now distributed 36% of the bitcoins to customers. On July 16, the Kraken crypto exchange announced that it had received BTC and BCH from Mt.Gox, and it would take 7 to 14 days for the funds to be credited to the lenders’ accounts.

There have been repeated concerns in the crypto community that payments to Mt.Gox’s creditors would crash the bitcoin exchange rate due to selling pressure. In the time since the platform’s bankruptcy, the value of the asset has increased more than a hundred times. Amid news of preparations to begin payments, the price of BTC reached a five-month low of $53 600 in early July.