Bitcoin drops below $66k as Mt. Gox moves $2b

On Wednesday, the price of Bitcoin dropped below $66,000 after news emerged of another multi-billion-dollar BTC transfer from the defunct cryptocurrency exchange Mt. Gox.

Mt. Gox’s estate moved about 34,000 Bitcoins (BTC), worth about $2.25 billion at current prices, to a new wallet on Tuesday, July 30. This suggests that the exchange may be actively repaying creditors after it closed in 2014.

According to data from Arkham Intelligence, Mt. Gox moved 33,963 BTC to a new wallet, where the funds still reside as of press time. It is unclear whether the defunct crypto exchange moved more than $2 billion worth of BTC to a crypto exchange or reallocated the funds to its own wallets.

BTC 1-hour price chart, July 26-31 | Source: crypto.news

During the transfer, the Bitcoin price briefly dropped to $65,400 before returning to the $66,000 level. As of press time, BTC is trading just above the $66,000 level, down 5.37% since reaching $70,000 on July 29, according to Crypto.news data.

Bitcoin price reactions to Mt. Gox moves

It is not yet clear how these latest transfers will affect Bitcoin’s price compared to, for example, the German government’s prolonged sell-off of BTC that was confiscated in early July, which spooked speculators and pushed the BTC price below $55,000.

However, preliminary indicators suggest limited selling pressure. Glassnode’s July 29 report reveals that of the 142,000 BTC recovered from the Mt. Gox attack, approximately 59,000 BTC were distributed to creditors via major exchanges Kraken and Bitstamp. Despite these significant moves, the report suggests that Bitcoin’s price remained above the $60,000 level, suggesting relatively limited market impact.

BTC: Cap HODL Waves, 2015-2024. Source: Glassnode

As a result, the proportion of Bitcoin held by new investors has decreased, with Glassnode adding that long-term holders now control around 45% of the network’s wealth. This suggests a shift in investor behavior toward holding rather than selling. Still, Mt. Gox still holds more than $5.3 billion worth of BTC in its wallets, according to data from Arkham Intelligence, suggesting that the distribution of those funds could take weeks or even months.