Key Points
- Mt. Gox, a former Bitcoin exchange, has moved 12,000 Bitcoin, worth over $709 million, to an unknown wallet.
- This Bitcoin transfer has potentially caused a drop in the cryptocurrency’s price, falling below the $60,000 mark.
Mt. Gox, once a leading Bitcoin exchange, has initiated another round of Bitcoin transfers. A total of 12,000 Bitcoin, valued at over $709 million, has been sent to an unidentified wallet. This information was revealed by blockchain analytics firm PeckShield. This transfer is believed to be the reason behind the recent drop in Bitcoin’s price, which has now slipped below the $60,000 mark.
According to a post by PeckShieldAlert, the 12,000 Bitcoin was moved to a wallet address labeled “1PuQB…nWhTb” late on Tuesday night. In addition, a separate transfer of 1,264.69 Bitcoin, valued at $74.77 million, was sent to another cold wallet associated with Mt. Gox. These transactions have not yet been further distributed to other wallets, leading to speculation among market observers.
Timing of Transfers
The timing of these transfers is significant, as they align with a pattern seen in recent weeks. Movements of Bitcoin from Mt. Gox often precede creditor repayments and significant fluctuations in Bitcoin prices.
On August 13 and 14, a wallet likely controlled by crypto exchange platform BitGo moved nearly $2 billion worth of Bitcoin received from Mt. Gox to a different wallet. Shortly after, the cryptocurrency dipped below the $60,000 level, only to rebound in the following days.
A decade ago, Mt. Gox was hit by a massive attack, resulting in the loss of over 850,000 Bitcoin. Since then, creditors have been struggling to reclaim their Bitcoin holdings. The repayment process, which started in July, has been slowly picking up pace, with recent data showing that around 70% of the transactions have been completed.
As of last week, over 17,000 creditors have received more than $3.2 billion worth of Bitcoin. However, the exchange still holds around $2.7 billion in Bitcoin, according to data by CryptoQuant.
Market Impact
The recent Bitcoin transfers have had an immediate impact on the market. The price of Bitcoin fell to around $59,600, marking a decline of over 2% in the past 24 hours. The cryptocurrency’s market cap also experienced a 2% downfall, currently standing at $1.17 trillion.
The overall market has also been affected, with Ethereum slipping below $2,600, currently trading at $2,606. Furthermore, the crypto fear and greed index has dipped to 26, indicating a sense of fear among investors.
Despite these market fluctuations, institutional interest in Bitcoin remains strong. On August 20, US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) recorded $88 million in inflows, with BlackRock’s IBIT and Ark’s ARKB attracting $55.4 million and $52 million, respectively. However, Grayscale’s GBTC saw a net outflow of $12.8 million on Tuesday.
As the Mt. Gox repayment process continues, investors will be closely monitoring it due to its potential to influence Bitcoin’s price.
