Mount Gox Repayment Begins... Bitcoin Hovering Around $50,000 [Bitcoin Now]

Hovering around $57,000
Brief rebound to $59,000
Positive remarks from US Fed Chair Powell

The Bitcoin market in the second week of July remained stuck in the mid-$50,000 range due to negative news stemming from Mount Gox. Despite the anticipated bad news, continuous sell-offs have made price rebounds difficult.

According to the global cryptocurrency market tracking site CoinMarketCap, as of 1:20 PM on the 13th (KST), Bitcoin was trading at $57,831.43, up 1.61% from the previous day. Compared to a week ago, it rose 2.70%, but it fell 14.48% compared to a month ago. The year-over-year increase was 90.88%.

Last week's Bitcoin decline was attributed to negative news from 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 is a total of 140,000 Bitcoins, worth approximately $9 billion (about 12.4 trillion KRW).

The Mount Gox trust transferred Bitcoin to Bitbank and SBI VC Trade. It has not yet transferred to other exchanges. Bitbank and SBI VC Trade distributed the allocated funds within hours, but Bitstamp, Kraken, and BitGo have not disclosed their distribution schedules.

Bitstamp plans to distribute Bitcoin within 60 days. Kraken may take up to 90 days, and BitGo up to 20 days. Bitstamp stated it would distribute as soon as possible, while BitGo avoided comment, and Kraken did not respond. Mount Gox transferred 47,229 Bitcoins (about $2.7 billion) to Bitbank and SBI VC Trade, with 94,771 Bitcoins (about $5.4 billion) still remaining.

However, on the afternoon of the 10th (KST), Bitcoin briefly surpassed $59,000. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, during a written report submitted to the U.S. Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee hearing on the 9th (local time), stated, "It is not appropriate to lower the benchmark interest rate until we gain greater confidence that inflation is moving steadily toward 2%." He added, "Better indicators will strengthen the confidence that inflation is consistently heading toward 2%."

According to cryptocurrency data provider Alternative, the Fear & Greed Index, which measures investor sentiment, stood at 25 points (extreme fear) on that day. This is one level lower than last week's 26 points (fear). Alternative's Fear & Greed Index ranges from 0, indicating extreme fear and pessimism about investing, to 100, indicating optimism.