Bitcoin’s (BTC) sell-off persisted on Friday in Asian trading hours as the defunct exchange Mt. Gox made a significant transfer of BTC to a new wallet, possibly in preparation for creditor repayments. This led to a decrease of over 4% in the price of Bitcoin to $53,600, the lowest since Feb. 26.
At 00:27 UTC, Mt. Gox moved 47,228 BTC ($2.6 billion) from cold storage to a new wallet, as reported by blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence. This transfer is part of the process to distribute assets stolen from clients during a 2014 hack. The repayments are expected to include 140,000 BTC ($7.73 billion), 143,000 BCH, and Japanese yen.
The announcement of the impending repayments last month has raised concerns among traders. There are fears that creditors, who have been waiting for reimbursements for a decade, might sell off their coins immediately upon receiving them. This could potentially create significant selling pressure in the market. It’s worth noting that the value of BTC has increased significantly since the 2014 hack, from around $600 to over $55,000 today.
Despite attempts by analysts to downplay the potential selling pressure, Bitcoin has experienced a 10% decline over the past week and a 22% drop in the last four weeks. The recent sell-off has broken the horizontal support level at $56,500, originating from the lows in May. Additionally, the bears have managed to establish a position below the crucial 200-day Simple Moving Average (SMA) and the bullish trendline.
Traders and investors are closely monitoring the situation at Mt. Gox and the potential impact on the broader cryptocurrency market. The market sentiment remains cautious as uncertainties linger around the dynamics of the upcoming creditor repayments and their influence on Bitcoin’s price trend.