Mount Gox Concerns Realized... Bitcoin Stalls Around $50,000 [Bitcoin Now]

Retreat to $56,000 Range
Mount Gox Shows Concrete Moves for July Repayment
Concerns Over Supply from Germany Emergence

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The Bitcoin market in the first week of July retreated to the mid-$50,000 range due to negative news stemming from Mount Gox. Although the adverse event was initially anticipated, the release of assets by the German government caused significant fear in the market.

According to the global cryptocurrency market data aggregator CoinMarketCap, as of 3 PM on the 6th (Korean time), the price of Bitcoin was $56,360.40, up 3.00% from the previous day. Compared to a week ago, it fell 7.12%, and compared to a month ago, it dropped 20.49%. The year-over-year increase was 84.26%.

Last week's decline in Bitcoin was attributed to negative news related to Mount Gox, the Japanese cryptocurrency exchange that went bankrupt due to a hack in 2014. On June 24 (local time), Mount Gox announced on its official website that "Nobuyaki Kobayashi, the trustee and bankruptcy administrator of Mount Gox, will begin repaying creditors with Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash starting early July 2024." The expected amount to be repaid totals 140,000 Bitcoins, worth approximately $9 billion (about 12.4 trillion KRW).

As initially announced, Mount Gox began the repayment process. On the 5th (local time), according to US media outlets CNBC and The Block, the Mount Gox bankruptcy trustee started distributing cryptocurrency to some creditors. The amount transferred was approximately 47,229 Bitcoins (worth $2.71 billion) moved to different wallet addresses.

The exchange stated, "Repayments will be made in Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash," adding, "If creditors meet certain conditions such as account verification and registration with designated exchanges, repayments will be processed promptly."

On the same day (the 5th), it was revealed that the German government transferred a large amount of Bitcoin to exchanges, which also caused fear in the market. On-chain analytics platform Arkham Intelligence reported that on the 4th, the German government transferred about 1,300 Bitcoins to Bitstamp, Coinbase, and Kraken. The dollar value of this transfer at the time was approximately $75.53 million.

According to cryptocurrency data provider Alternative, the Fear & Greed Index, which measures investor sentiment, stood at 26 points (Fear) on that day. This is the same rating as last week's 30 points (Fear). Alternative's Fear & Greed Index ranges from 0, indicating extreme fear and pessimism about investing, to 100, indicating optimism.