Background and Proposal Details
Former Mt.Gox CEO Mark Karpelès has proposed a Bitcoin hard fork to recover approximately 79,956 BTC stolen during the 2011 hack, currently valued at around $5.2 billion.
The proposal centers around a wallet address linked to the Mt.Gox incident, which has held nearly 80,000 BTC without movement for over 15 years. Under current rules, only the holder of the private key can access these funds.
Core Mechanism of the New Rule
The plan suggests modifying the consensus rules to allow the Mt.Gox recovery address to control these funds and integrate them into the existing court-supervised repayment process for creditors.
Although the proposal targets only one address and plans activation at a future block height, it acknowledges the need for a network-wide coordinated upgrade, with potential risks of blockchain fragmentation if not universally adopted.
Current Status and Debate
These funds are not currently part of the asset distribution plan for Mt.Gox creditors and remain outside the control of bankruptcy trustees. The proposal has sparked significant debate on the balance between blockchain immutability and the right to reclaim stolen assets.