BTC Price Drop: Bitcoin Market Shaken as Mt. Gox Transfers $7B in BTC
Mt. Gox, the defunct Bitcoin exchange, has moved over 107,000 BTC, valued at around $7 billion, to an unknown address in thirteen transactions. This significant movement, starting early Tuesday during Asian trading hours, is believed to be part of the plan to repay creditors by October 31, 2024.
The market reacted negatively to these large transfers, with Bitcoin dropping 1.4% to a low of $67,680. This comes after Bitcoin reached a high of over $70,000 on Monday. The potential selling pressure from these repayments has made investors wary, contributing to the price dip.
This is the first movement from Mt. Gox's cold wallets in over five years. The transactions included:
- A test transaction of $3 on May 20
- Another small transaction of $160 early Tuesday
- Remaining transactions ranging from $1.2 million to $2.2 billion in Bitcoin
All funds were transferred to a new address: "1JbezDVd9VsK9o1Ga9UqLydeuEvhKLAPs6," as noted by CryptoQuant’s head of research, Julio Moreno.
Alex Thorn, head of research at Galaxy, believes that most of the transferred Bitcoin will be held by creditors rather than sold on the open market. Despite this, the market’s immediate reaction has been bearish due to concerns over potential selling pressure.
