In a significant move, nearly 107,000 bitcoins have been transferred since the early Asian hours on Tuesday, leading to a 1.2% dip in Bitcoin’s value due to anticipated selling pressure.
More than 140,000 BTC, valued at approximately $9 billion, were shifted from Mt. Gox wallets to an unknown address across thirteen transactions. This transfer is likely a part of the repayment plan set to compensate creditors by October 31, 2024.
The market reacted swiftly, with Bitcoin’s price dropping by 1.4%, falling to $67,680 after hitting a peak of over $70,000 on Monday.
The defunct Bitcoin exchange, Mt. Gox, once the largest globally, ceased operations in 2014 following a massive hack that led to the loss of hundreds of thousands of bitcoins. Creditors have been eagerly awaiting repayment, which many believe will exert additional selling pressure on the BTC markets.
Transaction records reveal that the transfers included a small test transaction worth $3 on May 20, followed by another transaction of $160 early Tuesday. The remaining transfers ranged in value from $1.2 million to $2.2 billion worth of bitcoin. Data from Bitinfocharts confirms that all of Mt.Gox’s bitcoin has been consolidated into a single wallet.
This marks the first asset movement from Mt. Gox’s cold wallets in over five years, suggesting a structured effort to redistribute assets back to creditors before the October 2024 deadline.
CryptoQuant’s head of research, Julio Moreno, highlighted in an X post that all coins were transferred to the address “1JbezDVd9VsK9o1Ga9UqLydeuEvhKLAPs6.”
Alex Thorn, Galaxy’s head of research, also commented on X, expressing his belief that most of the transferred bitcoins are likely to be retained by creditors rather than being sold on the open market.
Despite this, market sentiment has turned bearish, with Bitcoin losing 1.4% since the beginning of Asian trading hours, plunging to $67,680 from a high of over $70,000 on Monday.
This development underscores the ongoing impact of Mt. Gox’s legacy on the cryptocurrency market, highlighting the delicate balance between large-scale asset movements and market stability.
