Karpelès Proposes Bitcoin Hard Fork to Recover $5.2B from Mt. Gox 1Feex Address
Former Mt. Gox CEO Mark Karpelès has published a draft technical proposal to recover 79,956 BTC (≈$5.2 billion) tied to the long-dormant 1Feex address. The plan would add a special Bitcoin consensus rule, activated at a future block height, allowing outputs from that single address to be spent to a designated recovery address under court supervision so funds can enter Japan’s Mt. Gox civil rehabilitation for creditor payouts. Karpelès frames the draft as a discussion starter; it has not entered any formal adoption process. The proposal requires a coordinated network upgrade (a hard fork) and has drawn strong opposition from Bitcoin Core developers and many node operators who warn it threatens Bitcoin’s immutability and could set a precedent for future interventions. Supporters argue the scale of losses and clear identification of victims justify a one-time exception. Risks include a potential chain split if nodes refuse to upgrade, legal and legitimacy disputes, and market uncertainty about recovered funds’ value and handling. The trustee currently holds ~34,689 BTC for repayments; the 79,956 BTC at 1Feex are not yet in the estate pool. As of late February 2026 the idea remains a contentious draft with no implementation steps started. Traders should monitor developer responses, node operator signals, trustee movements, and any court actions—any concrete move toward a fork or evidence of coordination could spur volatility in BTC markets.
Neutral
The proposal is unlikely to produce an immediate clear bullish or bearish move for BTC until concrete implementation steps appear. Short-term: the announcement increases uncertainty and could cause heightened volatility as traders price in the possibility of a contested hard fork or chain split; cautious traders may reduce leverage, increasing short-term downward pressure, while opportunistic flows could produce quick rebounds. Medium-to-long term: if the proposal is abandoned or fails to gain coordination, the status quo (immutability) remains intact and market impact should be muted. If a coordinated, widely accepted technical/legal path emerged to recover the coins without a chain split, it could be neutral-to-slightly bearish because adding exceptions undermines protocol certainty; conversely, a contentious fork or split would be disruptive and likely bearish until resolution. Key indicators to watch: Bitcoin Core and major node operator signals, miner support, exchange wallet movements, trustee actions, and any court rulings in Japan. These will determine whether volatility is temporary or leads to lasting price direction.