Markets
What’s Next for Bitcoin (BTC) Price After Mt. Gox News
Bitcoin (BTC) Crypto prices fell sharply on Monday after the trustee of defunct crypto exchange Mt. Gox said it would begin returning more than 140,000 BTC in July to customers whose assets were stolen in a 2014 hack.
At press time, bitcoin was trading at $60,700, down more than 5% in the past 24 hours and its lowest level since early May. Ether (ETH) was lower by a similar amount, as was the overall CoinDesk 20 Index.
Those selling today are considering the effect of more than 140,000 bitcoins hitting the market in less than a month. Putting that figure into perspective, that would be a bit less than the immediate liquidation of Fidelity’s bitcoin spot ETF, which at last check held 167,375 bitcoins.
“We believe that fewer coins will be distributed than people think and that this will result in less bitcoin selling pressure than the market expects,” said Alex Thornhead of research at Galaxy.
Thorn said his research suggests 75% of creditors will accept “early” payment in July, meaning a distribution of around 95,000 coins. Thorn believes 65,000 coins will go to individual creditors, but he thinks they might turn out to be more “generous” than most expect. Among the reasons, he said, is that they have already withstood years of “compelling and aggressive bids from claim funds,” not to mention the capital gains taxes involved given that bitcoin has increased 140 times since the bankruptcy.
As for these claim funds, after having discussions with some, Thorn suggests that the overwhelming majority of partners in these funds are wealthy bitcoiners looking to build their stack at a discount, as opposed to arbs looking for a profitable trade fast.