Over the past 24 hours, Bitcoin dropped by 7%. Traders are liquidating positions en masse. The decline was triggered by the movement of large volumes of BTC from the wallets of the Mt.Gox exchange. Anxiety in the crypto market is growing, with analysts warning of the possibility of further price drops.
BTC quotes showed one of the most significant declines in recent times, dropping to around $53,000. Over the past week, Bitcoin lost about 12% of its value, and over the past 24 hours, the price of BTC dropped by 7%. According to CoinGecko, as of 11:00 AM (GMT+3) on July 5, it’s priced at approximately $54,100.
The main catalyst for the decline was news of large sums of BTC moving from the wallets belonging to the Japanese crypto exchange Mt.Gox, which went bankrupt in 2014. According to Arkham Intelligence, the exchange transferred 47,229 BTC ($2.71 billion) to an unknown wallet address, and later, another 1,545 BTC ($84.87 million) were transferred to a Bitbank exchange wallet address.
A statement from Mt.Gox said that the exchange plans to start repaying debts to creditors in July this year. In total, it plans to repay $8.5 billion, with applications for refunds having been closed back in 2022.
Large BTC movements caused significant anxiety in the crypto market. The Fear and Greed Index dropped to 29 points, the lowest level this year, corresponding to a state of “fear.” Some members of the crypto community fear that Mt.Gox repayments will put significant pressure on Bitcoin, as investors may want to sell the assets. However, Alex Thorn, Head of Research at Galaxy Digital, believes that most creditors are unlikely to immediately sell the received BTC.
But traders aren’t as optimistic. According to CoinGlass, positions worth over $676 million were liquidated in the last 24 hours, with long positions making up $578 million. These mass liquidations affected not only BTC but also other cryptocurrencies. Over the past day, positions in ETH and SOL worth more than $162 million and $24 million, respectively, were closed.
Analysts at 10x Research claim that the current BTC price level may not be the lowest this year. They say that besides fear, the market is also under pressure from macroeconomic factors such as inflation and rising interest rates, as well as increased regulation of the crypto sector in various countries. Analysts predict further BTC price declines, which in turn could lead to even more massive liquidations.
The decline in Bitcoin quotes traditionally affected the prices of other cryptocurrencies. CoinGecko reports that ETH fell by 11% over the past 24 hours, dropping below $2,850. BNB and SOL quotes dropped by 12% and 7%, respectively. The total market cap of the crypto market declined by 8% over the last 24 hours — to $2.08 trillion.
In 2024, Bitcoin set a new ATH several times, and recently, Bitcoin Core developers debunked the myth of the blockchain network’s invulnerability.
