The price of Bitcoin (BTC) fell sharply below the $61,000 mark amid a crypto-wide downturn. The drawdown triggered a massive leverage washout, liquidating some $305.64 million of leveraged derivatives trading positions across all digital assets, CoinGlass data shows. Some $275 million of those positions were longs betting on rising prices, caught off-guard by the sudden drop.
The market weakness comes amid reports that Mt. Gox, the now-defunct crypto exchange that lost 850,000 Bitcoin in investor funds in 2024, will start repaying its users in July.
Mt.Gox’s BTC, BCH Payouts To Begin In July
Over a decade after losing their funds, Mt. Gox creditors are set to start receiving repayments in Bitcoin (BTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) starting in early July, according to a Monday statement by Mt. Gox Rehabilitation Trustee Nobuaki Kobayashi.
Kobayashi revealed that compliance measures and exchange cooperation have already taken place. As such, they can start distributing $9 billion to Mt.Gox clients.
“We have taken time to ensure safe and reliable repayment to creditors, including technical remedies for safe repayments, compliance with financial regulations in each country, and discussion of repayment arrangements with the cryptocurrency exchanges.”
Mt. Gox was once the world’s top crypto exchange, processing over 70% of Bitcoin’s trading volume in its heyday. The exchange was hacked in 2014, leading to the loss of an estimated 850,000 Bitcoins ($15 billion at current prices).
In May, Mt. Gox transferred at least 140,000 BTC, worth around $9.3 billion, from its cold wallets to an unknown address for the first time in five years.
Market participants were panic-stricken today as the payouts are largely considered to put selling pressure on the Bitcoin markets as creditors will receive assets at a much higher value than when they bought them in 2013, making them inclined to liquidate at least a portion of their stash.
Bitcoin Price Crumbles
The last 24 hours have turned into a real bloodbath as the price of the largest and oldest cryptocurrency dropped to as low as $60,836 following the publishing of Mt.Gox’s note. At press time, BTC had bounced back to $61,256, down 4.8% over the past 24 hours.
Ethereum (ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, fell as much as 5.1% to $3,277 before a modest bounce to $3,317. Other altcoins suffered equally heavy losses in the panicky action.
The global crypto market cap dropped nearly 5%, with Dogecoin (DOGE), Solana (SOL), and Shiba Inu (SHIB), plummeting 5.1-7%. Polkadot (DOT), Avalanche (AVAX), and Ripple (XRP) have also experienced declines ranging from 1.9% to 3.3%.