The intensified sell-off in Bitcoin (BTC) comes amid reports that the defunct crypto exchange Mt. Gox has transferred over 47,000 BTC (approximately $2.6 billion) to a new wallet in preparation for a $9 billion payout. As of now, Bitcoin is trading at $54,561, a price point last observed in February when the cryptocurrency was on its way to setting a new all-time high.
Following the transaction, Mt. Gox's trustee officially confirmed on July 5, during Friday’s Asian trading hours, that the collapsed exchange had “made repayments in Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash to some of the rehabilitation creditors.” However, the trustee did not disclose the exact amount of BTC sent to creditors.
The crypto market has been under significant pressure recently, impacting both investor sentiment and miner operations. This follows the April halving, which reduced mining rewards from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC. At the current Bitcoin price, only five ASIC rigs from Avalon and Antminer remain profitable.
The sharp decline below $55,000 has led to significant liquidations, with $682 million in both long and short positions across multiple exchanges being wiped out, according to Coinglass.
In the last 24 hours, more than 235,000 traders were liquidated, with the largest single liquidation order on Binance’s ETH/USDT trading pair valued at over $18.4 million. CoinGecko reports that the total crypto market capitalization has dropped by over 8% to $2 trillion, exacerbating sell-offs among speculators.
As reported by crypto.news earlier, TRON founder Justin Sun expressed his willingness to assist the industry by indicating his interest in purchasing confiscated Bitcoins from the German government over-the-counter. While the timeline for these negotiations remains unclear, the recent movement of Bitcoins to centralized exchanges from Germany-labeled addresses and Mt. Gox’s repayments have become a primary concern for traders.
