Bitcoin (BTC) prices fell on Tuesday morning as the defunct cryptocurrency exchange Mt. Gox executed its largest transfer in months in anticipation of a future sale. BTC dropped below $68,000, representing a 2% decline over the last 24 hours and contributing to a broader market downturn ahead of the U.S. elections later in the day. Traders are bracing for increased market volatility this week, with potential price swings reaching up to $8,000.
Data from Arkham reveals that Mt. Gox transferred over 32,000 BTC, valued at approximately $2.2 billion at current rates, to undisclosed wallet addresses. Of this amount, nearly 30,400 BTC was sent to the address “1FG2C…Rveoy,” while another 2,000 BTC was directed to “15gNR…a8Aok” after first being routed to a cold wallet belonging to Mt. Gox. Such transfers typically involve consolidating holdings into new addresses before being moved to cryptocurrency exchanges, where the Bitcoin is then sold on the open market.
The impending repayments from Mt. Gox are widely viewed as a potential source of selling pressure on the Bitcoin market, as early investors are expected to sell portions of their assets, which they acquired at significantly lower prices prior to 2013, according to traders.
Once the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchange, Mt. Gox accounted for over 70% of all Bitcoin transactions during its early years. However, in early 2014, the exchange fell victim to a massive hack, resulting in the loss of an estimated 740,000 Bitcoins—valued at over $15 billion today. This incident marked the most significant in a series of attacks on the exchange between 2010 and 2013.
Trustees have been working on a repayment plan for several years, which was initially set to be completed by October 2024 following a deadline from a Tokyo court last year. In October, however, this deadline was extended by an additional year, pushing it to October 31, 2025.
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