Bitcoin Price Drops by 11% Amidst Mt.Gox Creditor Fears
Last week, Bitcoin continued to decline by 11%, reaching its lowest price since the end of February, due to concerns about the repayment of creditors by the former crypto exchange Mt.Gox, says Simon Peters, an eToro analyst.
According to the source, Bitcoin is currently trading at $57,050. We are waiting to see if the decline will continue or if investors see this as an opportunity to “buy the dip,” given the recent economic data from the US indicating an increasing likelihood of interest rate cuts and financial easing in the near future. More information below.
“After last week’s non-farm payrolls and unemployment data boosted expectations of interest rate cuts, this week the focus will be on the latest US CPI and PPI inflation data, which will be released on Thursday and Friday,
The Impact of Inflation on Interest Rates and Cryptocurrency Prices
According to analysts at eToro, the current market expectations are for two interest rate cuts by the Fed in 2024, with the first one expected to take place in September. If inflation figures align with or fall below forecasts, the likelihood of interest rate cuts could increase even further. This, in turn, could bode well for cryptocurrency prices, as well as stocks.
Bitcoin has seen a decline recently due to the Mt. Gox compensation and the German government’s sale of the cryptocurrency. On Friday, the trustee for Mt. Gox’s bankruptcy announced that they have started reimbursing creditors with recovered bitcoin and bitcoin cash. It is expected that a total of $9 billion worth of assets will be returned to creditors by the end of the year. In addition to Mt. Gox, recent bitcoin transactions are being investigated by the German Federal Criminal Police Office, Bundeskriminalamt.
German Federal Police Seize Bitcoin from Movie Piracy Website Operators
In addition to the recent turmoil surrounding Mt.Gox, the German Federal Criminal Police Office, Bundeskriminalamt (BKA), has also made headlines in the crypto market. In January, reports surfaced that the BKA had confiscated nearly 50,000 bitcoin from the operators of Movie2k.to, a film piracy website that was shut down in 2013.
On-chain data from Arkham Intelligence reveals that since mid-June, the BKA-associated address holding the seized bitcoin has shown over 25,000 bitcoin being moved to other BKA addresses, as well as to crypto exchanges like Coinbase, Kraken, and Bitstamp. This indicates that the confiscated bitcoin may have already been sold, or could be sold in the near future.
Bitcoin Seized by Authorities Possibly Being Sold Off
Reports show that over 25,000 bitcoins seized by authorities have been moved to different addresses, including popular crypto exchanges like Coinbase, Kraken, and Bitstamp. This indicates that the seized bitcoins may have already been sold or are in the process of being sold.
ETFs Bitcoin Spot Seeing Influx of Capital
Bitcoin spot ETFs in the US recorded a net inflow of over $140 million on Friday, the largest net capital inflow in a day since the beginning of June. This suggests that institutional investors are “buying the dip”.
Bitcoin dropped to $53,500 on Friday, the lowest level since the end of February. The majority of inflows were recorded at Fidelity’s FBTC, with just over $117 million. Bitwise’s BITB, VanEck’s HODL, and ARK/21Shares ARKB saw inflows of $30.2 million, $12.8 million, and $11.3 million respectively.
Chainlink announces collaboration with Fidelity International and Sygnum to bring NAV data on the blockchain
Last week, the decentralized oracle network based on blockchain, Chainlink, announced a collaboration with Fidelity International and the digital asset bank Sygnum to bring Net Asset Value (NAV) data on the blockchain.
Net Asset Value is the value of a fund’s assets minus its liabilities. By bringing NAV data on the blockchain, it becomes accessible in real-time, unlike existing methods that usually update NAV after each trading day.
The collaboration provides transparency and accessibility. Grayscale’s GBTC recorded withdrawals of $28.6 million. Interestingly, BlackRock’s GBTC did not record any capital infusions or withdrawals on Friday. However, it remains the largest spot Bitcoin ETF in the US, with over $17 billion in AUM.
Sygnum Tokenizes $50 Million in Treasury Reserves on zkSync Blockchain
Sygnum has recently tokenized $50 million in treasury reserves from Matter Labs on the zkSync blockchain. This move represents a significant milestone in the representation of essential asset data, as part of the recent issuance by Sygnum on blockchain of units from Fidelity International’s $6.9 billion Institutional Liquidity Fund.
Metaplanet Acquires Additional $2.3 Million Worth of Bitcoin
Japanese publicly traded company Metaplanet has purchased an additional 42,266 bitcoins, approximately ¥400 million yen ($2.3 million). This latest acquisition brings their total holdings to 203,734 bitcoins ($11.64 million).
This move could be seen as bullish, as more and more public companies are committing to a long-term strategy of buying and holding bitcoin as a reserve asset.