On July 5, Mt. Gox officially commenced the repayment of BTC and BCH to its users, stirring market sentiments and causing further anxiety.
The lingering presence of Mt. Gox has placed significant strain on the crypto market recently, with the community apprehensive about the impending asset liquidation.
However, the anticipated moment has arrived. On the afternoon of July 5, 2024 (Vietnam time), Mt. Gox announced it would start repaying BTC and BCH. Marking a decade since the infamous 2014 hack, Mt. Gox’s trustee will distribute 142,000 BTC and 143,000 BCH to creditors.
As stated, the exchange will credit users’ accounts on pre-selected platforms. Upon receiving BTC and BCH, users can choose to sell immediately, hold, or transfer to personal wallets.
There is widespread concern among analysts that recipients will sell their newly acquired coins, potentially flooding the market with over $8 billion worth of Bitcoin and driving prices down.
On Reddit, some Mt. Gox creditors have reported receiving their assets via Bitbank, consistent with their filed claims. Mt. Gox transferred 1,544 BTC, worth approximately $84.8 million, to Bitbank. Nonetheless, some optimists argue that most creditors are long-term BTC holders who will likely retain their assets rather than sell at the current price. Consequently, the Mt. Gox repayments might impact BCH prices more significantly than BTC.
Despite the optimistic outlook of some analysts, the market has been reacting negatively since early July. Over the past two days, July 4 and 5, BTC prices have plunged nearly $10,000, reaching their lowest point in five months.
Currently, BTC is trading around $54,000. ETH has also experienced a decline, dropping below the $3,000 mark and now hovering around $2,850.
In the last 24 hours, $680 million worth of orders have been liquidated, with $590 million being long positions.
Given the current market conditions, there are growing concerns that Bitcoin might indeed drop to $50,000, a scenario predicted at the end of June, now seeming more plausible than ever.