Investing.com– Bitcoin price fell sharply to a four-month low on Friday, extending a recent price slump as growing signs of an impending distribution by defunct crypto exchange Mt Gox ramped up selling pressure on the token.
German police were also seen moving about $75 million of crypto confiscated from a piracy website onto exchanges, potentially heralding a mass sale event as seen earlier this year.
slid 8.5% in the past 24 hours to $54,092.3 – its weakest level since March. The token was also down over 11% in the past seven days.
Mt Gox wallet activity rattles Bitcoin
Wallets associated with the now defunct exchange Mt Gox were seen carrying out test transactions, ramping up concerns over an imminent distribution by the exchange.
Mt Gox’s liquidators said in June that they will begin returning Bitcoin stolen during a 2014 hack back to clients from early July. Traders speculated that most receivers of the tokens will be inclined to sell them, given that Bitcoin’s price rose exponentially in the past decade.
Such a scenario presented massive selling pressure on Bitcoin, and saw traders largely dump the token, also locking-in strong profits made so far in 2024.
Fears of additional sales by the German police also weighed.
Crypto price today: Political uncertainty, rate jitters batter prices
Broader cryptocurrency prices tracked steep declines in Bitcoin, with uncertainty over the U.S. presidential election and interest rates also factoring into weak sentiment towards crypto.
Speculation that President Joe Biden may drop out as the Democratic candidate for the 2024 elections sparked some uncertainty among crypto markets, especially amid concerns that Biden will be replaced by a candidate who is even more averse towards crypto.
Additionally, uncertainty before a key U.S. reading also kept traders averse towards crypto, even as the sank on growing expectations of an interest rate cut in September.
Crypto markets largely lagged a rally in stocks, which they usually track.
World no.2 token slid 10.5% to $2,902.42- wiping out all of its gains made in late-May and hitting a near two-month low.
, and slid between 7% and 17%, while among meme tokens, and lost over 16% each.
Losses were also driven in part by low trading volumes due to the July 4 U.S. market holiday. But they also reflected steadily declining sentiment towards crypto, as hype over the approval of a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund ran dry.
