The Mt. Gox bankruptcy estate has transferred billions of dollars worth of Bitcoin (BTC) to an unidentified wallet, further exacerbating concerns on declining crypto prices.
Data from blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence shows a cold storage wallet belonging to Mt. Gox has transferred 47,228 BTC, worth roughly $2.71 billion, according to a Thursday post on X, formerly Twitter.
It follows several test transactions conducted on Wednesday by the estate, valued at less than $27 over three separate transactions, according to blockchain data also provided by Arkham.
Repayments from Mt. Gox are expected to commence this month after extensive preparations for fund distribution. The defunct exchange will disburse approximately 142,000 BTC and 143,000 Bitcoin Cash.
The development marks a step towards resolving the decade-long wait for 127,000 creditors affected by the 2014 collapse of the former Japanese crypto exchange.
Several headwinds continue to dampen investor sentiment, including tensions arising from the recent transfer of Bitcoin by the German government, which began transferring seized assets to its own wallet six months ago.
Rising interest rates, inflation, and global economic instability also present uncertainty, Decrypt was previously told.
The German government seized nearly 50,000 BTC from the operators of the illegal streaming site Movie2k.to in 2020. The Bitcoin, initially worth around $2 billion, was confiscated as part of an investigation into the site’s activities, which included distributing pirated films and laundering the proceeds.
Roughly 1,300 BTC, worth $75.5 million, were sent to several exchanges, including Bitstamp, Coinbase, and Kraken, on Wednesday, adding to concerns that prices could be headed lower.
“It would need to be a massive July for Bitcoin’s price to resist the sheer weight of supply flooding into the market from Mt. Gox and the German government,” Pav Hundal, lead market analyst at crypto exchange Swyftx, told Decrypt. “This could be how we get as low as $50,000.”
Bitcoin’s price has dropped 9.5% since the beginning of the week, dipping from $62,000 on Monday to $56,700 on Wednesday. The asset is changing hands for a little over $56,900, CoinGecko data shows.
