Mark Karpelès announces commemorative Mt. Gox NFT drop
Early bitcoin adopters with Mt. Gox accounts between 2010 and 2014 are in line for an NFT drop, according to an announcement by the former CEO of the defunct exchange, Mark Karpelès.
The drop will feature 1,066,097 NFTs on the Ethereum network, corresponding to the total number of accounts ever created on the platform. Each token will be an ERC-721 compliant NFT that will display the last balance ever held by the corresponding Mt. Gox account. Users can choose to disable this feature when filing a claim for their NFT.
According to the announcement, the NFTs will be available to account holders who pass a verification process.
The process involves registering on the Mt. Gox NFT claim website followed by the user filing a claim that involves providing some identifying information including full name, last known balance, and screenshots of emails with Mt. Gox support.
Following the filing of a claim, an investigation will be undertaken to verify if the person was a Mt. Gox account holder. Verified users will receive a signed claim certificate that enables the actual minting of the NFT.
Detailing the use cases for the Mt. Gox NFT, the announcement stated that it was an acknowledgment of early bitcoin adopters. “Owning a MtGox NFT proves you’re OG. You were there in the early days of Bitcoin, and now you can prove it on the blockchain,” the website stated.
The announcement also stated that the drop could provide the framework for others to airdrop tokens to Mt. Gox customers since the process will create a list of Ethereum addresses linked to people who traded on the defunct exchange.
Mt. Gox collapsed in 2014 following the theft of about 850,000 bitcoin (now worth $40 billion) from the exchange in multiple hacks between 2011 and 2014. The saga is one of the longest-running in the crypto space with Karpelès accused of embezzlement and data falsification for which he was found guilty on one count and served with a suspended prison sentence.
The defunct exchange has been under a civil rehabilitation process with its creditors likely to soon receive restitution. This NFT drop is not associated with the civil rehabilitation process.
