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The price of Bitcoin has fallen below the $55,000 mark, reaching levels last seen in February, as the cryptocurrency market experiences significant sell-offs.
This decline follows reports that the defunct crypto exchange Mt. Gox moved over 47,000 BTC, valued at approximately $2.6 billion, to a new wallet in preparation for its $9 billion payout to creditors.
BREAKING
Mt Gox moves 47,228 BTC ($2.71 billion dollars) from cold storage to a new wallet. pic.twitter.com/3ZdSlC1IX2
— Arkham (@ArkhamIntel) July 5, 2024
This was accompanied by a mass sell-off from German government officials who transferred 1,300 BTC to Bitstamp, Coinbase and Kraken. The amount was worth approximately $75.53 million on July 4.
Key Developments
Bitcoin Price Decline: Bitcoin’s (BTC) value has dropped to $54,561, a level it last touched in February when it rose to an all-time high. This recent decline has intensified due to the Mt. Gox-related transactions.
Mt. Gox Repayments: On July 5, during Friday’s Asian trading hours, the Mt. Gox trustee confirmed that Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash repayments had been made to some rehabilitation creditors. However, the exact amount sent was not specified.
Market Impact: The crypto market has been under pressure following the April halving, which reduced Bitcoin mining rewards. According to f2pool, only five ASIC rigs from Avalon and Antminer are profitable at Bitcoin’s current price.
👷♂️ Today, the #Bitcoin mining difficulty was reduced by 5%, to 79.50 T.
In the current difficulty epoch, what will profitability be at different price levels? Refer to the table below.
⛏️ With a $BTC price of $54k, ASICs with Unit Power of 26 W/T or less can make a profit. We… pic.twitter.com/b5DmdmMTpo
— f2pool 🐟 (@f2pool_official) July 5, 2024
Liquidations and Speculator Pressure: The rapid decline below $55,000 led to $682 million in liquidations of both long and short positions across multiple exchanges, as reported by Coinglass. Over 235,000 traders were liquidated in the past 24 hours, with the largest single liquidation order on Binance’s ETH/USDT pair valued at over $18.4 million.
Total Market Cap Decline: According to CoinGecko, the total cryptocurrency market capitalization dropped by over 8% to $2 trillion, prompting increased sell-offs among speculators.
Industry Reactions
The significant Bitcoin movement by Mt. Gox has become a primary concern among traders.
TRON founder Justin Sun has expressed his willingness to buy confiscated Bitcoins from the German government over the counter, although the timing of these negotiations remains uncertain.
I am willing to negotiate with the German government to purchase all BTC off-market in order to minimize the impact on the market.
— H.E. Justin Sun 孙宇晨 (@justinsuntron) July 4, 2024
