The price of bitcoin has declined as traders have been monitoring transfers through wallets linked to the Mt. Gox exchange. The exchange's administration has stepped up efforts to return the main digital asset to creditors for a total of $9 billion, UNN reports citing Bloomberg.
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The major cryptocurrency is down 3.1% and is currently trading for around $67,800. This weakening trend has also affected smaller cryptocurrencies, including Ether, which is the second most popular.
According to information from CryptoQuant and Arkham Intelligence, more than 107,000 bitcoins worth more than $7.2 billion were withdrawn from Mt. Gox wallets in the early hours of Tuesday in Asia.
Mt. Gox, once the world's largest bitcoin exchange based in Tokyo, suffered a hacker attack in 2011 and declared bankruptcy in 2014. Last year, US prosecutors charged two Russians with conspiring to hack into the exchange's servers.
Mt. Gox's liquidator said that the exchange's creditors should receive basic, interim, and initial payments by October 31 as the liquidation process continues. One of the important questions is whether the recipients of the tokens will sell them, which could put pressure on the bitcoin price.
Tuesday’s movements in Mt. Gox wallets are the first since May 2018. Previously, the platform had about 137,892 bitcoins in stock.
According to previous reports, Mt. Gox also had Bitcoin Cash and fiat funds, and some of the fiat money has already been returned. The value of Bitcoin Cash dropped by 5% on Tuesday.
Caroline Bowler, CEO of BTC Markets, expressed the opinion that these changes are not particularly alarming and will only have a short-term impact on the market. She noted that Mt. Gox's activities may affect prices, but it is not expected to have a significant impact on the overall bitcoin market, which is currently focused on bipartisan support for crypto-friendly regulations by US lawmakers.
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Bitcoin has recovered from a deep bearish market trend in 2022, quadrupling in value since the beginning of last year, supported by the launch of spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds in January. In mid-March, the token's value reached a record $73,798.
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