Bitcoin’s price fell to a four-month low on Friday after Japanese crypto exchange Mt. Gox transferred $2.7b worth of the crypto to a new wallet. The exchange also started paying back creditors, and there were more sales as leveraged traders played it safe due to market uncertainty.
The asset dropped 5% to $53,806, before recovering slightly to about $54,658 as of 05:55 UTC. It has declined over 11% in the past week, and fallen 22% in the last month.
Bitcoin’s plunge followed Arkham Intelligence’s report about Mt. Gox’s transfer. This transaction represents the exchange’s largest move since May, following smaller test transactions conducted Wednesday.
*MT GOX BEGINS REPAYMENTShttps://t.co/HzdyREeUJB
— db (@tier10k) July 5, 2024
Mt. Gox’s $2.7b transfer came just before Mt. Gox began repaying creditors on Friday, aiming to distribute Bitcoin worth $9b in total. These creditors are widely expected to sell their holdings, given that these were worth only hundreds of dollars in 2014.
Analysts caution that such a substantial Bitcoin influx into the market could lead to price volatility and exert downward pressure on its value.
Bitcoin surged earlier this year after the US launched exchange-traded funds, reaching a peak over $73,000 in mid-March. However, those gains haven’t held and the price has since tumbled.
Furthermore, crypto liquidations have risen to $682.76m in the last 24 hours, marking the highest level in two months, according to CoinGlass. The liquidations amounted to $589.54m from long positions and $93.2m from short positions. Meanwhile, long BTC positions accounted for $185.08m.
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