Bitcoin price falls below $68,000 following transfer worth $9.6 billion from Mt. Gox cold wallet

Quick Take

  • The price of bitcoin fell below $68,000 following a significant transfer from a Mt. Gox cold wallet.
  • Tuesday’s sudden bout of bitcoin “supply anxiety” is likely to be only a blip in a broader upward trend towards the end of the year, analysts said.

The price of bitcoin fell below $68,000 following a significant transfer from a Mt. Gox cold wallet.

Early on Tuesday, Mt. Gox appeared to have transferred out bitcoin worth at least $9.6 billion from its cold wallets, according to data from Arkham Intelligence.

Bitcoin BTC -0.51% 's price has decreased by over 1.5% in the past 24 hours and was changing hands for $67,818 at 10:17 a.m. ET, according to The Block’s Price PageThe GM 30 Index, representing a selection of the top 30 cryptocurrencies, increased by 1.42% to 145.45 in the same period.

Expectation of broader trend higher

However, QCP Capital analysts said that a sudden bout of "supply anxiety" will likely be only a blip in a broader upward trend towards the end of the year.

RELATED INDICES

Tuesday's QCP Capital report outlined three reasons to remain bullish on bitcoin in the medium to long term.

"A stronger equity markets led by counters like Nvidia should pull crypto prices higher, crypto is seeing unprecedented political support in the U.S., and we expect strong demand for the ether spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) once it begins trading, bringing in a fresh capital into crypto," the QCP Capital analysts added.

Reduced market volatility over the summer

According to Arbelos Markets co-founder Joshua Lim, some of the major creditors of the defunct Mt. Gox exchange are experienced investment firms specializing in distressed debt who likely use hedging strategies to manage the risks associated with their claims. "Some of the largest holders of Mt Gox claims are sophisticated distressed debt investing firms that have likely been hedging their claims positions as they've accumulated them and into a possible distribution," Lim told The Block.

He added that an anticipated increase in cryptocurrency supply from the Mt. Gox creditor payouts and the FTX estate could temper a market upswing over the medium term, resulting in a less volatile market that will trade within a narrow range over the summer.

"We're seeing sellers of options emerge after the recent resolution of a number of major industry-specific catalysts, such as the spot bitcoin ETF launch, the halving, and the SEC's spot ether ETF decision, likely market participants are pricing in a more sedate range-bound market this summer because of the supply from Mt. Gox and the FTX estate and overhang from SEC enforcement actions," Lim added.


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About Author

Brian McGleenon is a UK-based markets reporter for The Block. He has worked as a financial journalist and producer for multiple news outlets over the years, such as Fuji Television, The Independent, Yahoo Finance, The Evening Standard, and The Daily Express. Brian is also a screenwriter and producer with one feature film produced and one in development with Northern Ireland Screen. Apart from web3 and cryptocurrency developments, he is also interested in geopolitics, environmental issues, artificial intelligence, and longevity research. Get in touch via email [email protected].

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