The cryptocurrency market witnessed a significant downturn today, with Bitcoin leading the plunge. The world’s largest cryptocurrency dropped to $60,567, a level not seen since early May, and is currently trading at $60,734. This translates to a daily decline of approximately 4% for BTC.
While Bitcoin was losing value, the price of gold rose by 0.32% over the past 24 hours, reaching $2,328 per ounce.
The primary reason for Bitcoin’s price decline is the impending distribution of BTC and BCH by the now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange Mt. Gox to its creditors. This exchange was hacked years ago, resulting in the theft of thousands of Bitcoins. The announcement of these payments caused BTC’s price to slide, pushing it further away from the $70,000 mark.
The decline in BCH, the other cryptocurrency to be distributed to Mt. Gox’s creditors, was even more pronounced, with a drop of approximately 8%.
This downward trend is driven by expectations that creditors will sell their received assets. Additionally, the German government’s recent move to transfer its BTC holdings to cryptocurrency exchanges has contributed to the sell-off.
The drop in BTC price also triggered the liquidation of many futures positions, resulting in the liquidation of crypto assets worth $313 million in the last 24 hours, with $277 million coming from short positions.
Almost all altcoins experienced sudden declines, except for a few outliers like Fantom, Injective, LEO, WIF, and TIA.
Please note that this is not investment advice. To trade over 300 cryptocurrencies, you can sign up on Binance with a 20% commission discount using this link! Follow our Telegram and Twitter accounts for exclusive news, analytics, and on-chain data.
