Bitcoin tumbled Friday to around $55,000, at four-month lows, as bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange Mt. Gox’s repayments to creditors pressured holders of digital currencies as well as miners.
The trustee for Mt. Gox assets began large repayments to creditors on Friday. Creditors responded by selling.
In 2011 hackers attacked the crypto exchange and it went bankrupt in 2014. The thieves stole more than 600,000 bitcoin in the hacking attack.
Coinbase, MicroStrategy Retreat
As of Monday, Mt. Gox reportedly holds about 141,687 bitcoin, worth nearly $9 billion. Creditors who got repayments stood to profit since the cryptocurrency was worth only hundreds of dollars in 2014.
Meanwhile, bitcoin retreated 5.5% to $55,174 on Friday. In mid-March, it reached a record $73,798. The cryptocurrency traded at $65,000 in mid-June but lost momentum ahead of Mt. Gox’s repayments.
On the stock market today, Coinbase Global‘s (COIN) stock fell 4.7% to 214.25.
Shares of MicroStrategy (MSTR) fell 7.2% to near 1,208. The business-analytics software company is a big holder of the crypto asset.
Further, Robinhood Markets (HOOD), a financial services platform, fell 2.9% to 22.22. Mining play Marathon Digital Holdings (MARA) fell 5.3% to 19.86.
Bitcoin ETFs Among Losers
Meanwhile, the Mt. Gox fallout pressured leading ETFs on Friday. Van Eck Bitcoin Trust (HODL), Grayscale Bitcoin (GBTC), IShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) and Valkyrie Bitcoin (BRRR) were among the losers.
Also, Coinbase serves as the custodian for a majority of the new ETF issuers.
Bitcoin on April 19 completed its fourth halving event, which slashed the rewards doled out to miners. Bitcoin’s price has historically risen in the months following previous halvings, but analysts have been divided on the impact this year’s event will have.
Follow Reinhardt Krause on Twitter @reinhardtk_tech for updates on artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and cloud computing.
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