Bitcoin experienced a drop of over 3% on July 16 due to concerns related to the defunct exchange Mt. Gox.
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView indicated that BTC’s price was under pressure after reaching $65,000 on Bitstamp.
The decline occurred as Bitcoin from Mt. Gox moved between wallets associated with its rehabilitation program.
Crypto intelligence firm Arkham reported that approximately 92,000 BTC (valued at around $5.7 billion) was transferred out of Mt. Gox’s cold wallet, constituting about two-thirds of the exchange’s total holdings.
“Mt. Gox moved 44,527 $BTC (2.84B) to an internal wallet 5 minutes ago, which may be preparing for repayment,” noted onchain analytics platform Look Into Bitcoin on X (formerly Twitter).
The impending distribution of refunds to Mt. Gox creditors, who originally lost their assets when the exchange was hacked and subsequently closed more than a decade ago, has historically impacted prices negatively.
Markets fear massive BTC sales as a result.
However, some argue that these fears are exaggerated. “And here is the next Bitcoin FUD,” remarked popular crypto investor and YouTuber Quinten Francois on X.
Cointelegraph previously reported that sell-side pressure affecting markets in recent weeks also stemmed from the German government, which had sold off its stocks of confiscated BTC, now depleted.
The disruption from these concerns interrupted what had been one of Bitcoin’s strongest performances in recent months.
BTC/USD had last reached $65,000 on June 21, a critical level reflecting Bitcoin’s short-term holder cost basis.
This cost basis, also known as realized price, serves as support during bull markets and was last breached in August 2023.
Look Into Bitcoin recorded the short-term holder cost basis at $64,835 as of July 15.
The resurfacing of Mt. Gox-related fears thus added to the already present market anxieties, influencing Bitcoin’s price movements and market sentiment.
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Bitcoin sentiment has dramatically shifted from “extreme fear” to “greed” and “FOMO” within just a few days, driven by a 12% gain over the last week.
On July 16, crypto analytics platform Santiment posted on X, advising caution amidst the sudden bullish trend.
They warned that investors should be careful when “the crowd has collectively become so bullish without many signs of fear.”
Santiment attributed the market’s optimism to investors favoring the potential election victory of Donald Trump and his crypto-friendly running mate JD Vance in November.
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During the period from July 13 to July 16, the Crypto Fear & Greed Index for Bitcoin sentiment flipped from “extreme fear” to “greed” as the crypto market rallied.
Bitcoin has surged by 12.8% in the last week, currently trading at $64,508, according to TradingView data.
Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have also shown strength, with eleven spot Bitcoin funds seeing net inflows of $300.9 million on July 15.
Leading the inflows were funds from BlackRock and Ark 21 Shares, each with $117.2 million on that day, as reported by FarSide Investors.
Bitcoin’s price rebounded from a July 5 low of $53,500, which followed significant sales by German government-linked entities and negative sentiment due to fears about $8.5 billion in BTC being returned to creditors of the collapsed crypto exchange Mt. Gox.
After Bitcoin surpassed the $62,000 mark, several analysts told Cointelegraph that an improving macro-environment suggests that the worst “is likely behind us.”
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Bitcoin-stacking investment firm Metaplanet has made a significant move by purchasing an additional 21.88 Bitcoin, valued at over $1.2 million (200 million Japanese yen), amid a recent Bitcoin rally that has driven prices close to $65,000.
In its latest purchase statement dated July 16, the Japan-based firm revealed that its total Bitcoin holdings now stand at 225.6 Bitcoin, valued at approximately $14.6 million.
This recent acquisition, coupled with a 4.4% rise in Bitcoin’s price over the last 24 hours, has led to a notable surge in Metaplanet’s share prices.
According to Google Finance data, the company’s shares jumped 25.8% to $0.74 (117 yen) within the first two and a half hours of trading on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on July 16.
Earlier this month, Metaplanet took advantage of a dip in Bitcoin’s price, purchasing an additional 42.46 Bitcoin on July 7 for $2.5 million (400 million yen).
This strategic move has contributed to the firm’s stock price soaring nearly six-fold since it announced its Bitcoin investment strategy on April 9, 2024.
Despite the impressive growth in its stock price, Metaplanet’s overall gain on its Bitcoin holdings is modest at 2.8%, given its average Bitcoin purchase price of $62,890.
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According to CoinGecko, Metaplanet is currently the 21st-largest corporate holder of Bitcoin globally.
Often referred to as “Asia’s MicroStrategy,” Metaplanet mirrors the investment approach of Michael Saylor’s MicroStrategy from 2020.
On May 13, Metaplanet reiterated its commitment to utilizing a full range of capital market instruments to enhance its Bitcoin reserves.
The firm adopted this strategy as a hedge against Japan’s escalating debt and the rapidly depreciating Japanese yen.
Since January 2021, the yen has depreciated nearly 54% against the U.S. dollar, while Bitcoin has appreciated over 145% against the yen in the past year.
Currently, Bitcoin is trading at $64,640, marking a 13.6% increase over the past week.
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Marathon Digital Holdings did not sell any of its Bitcoin in June, reflecting a growing trend among U.S.-based Bitcoin miners to hold rather than sell their mined Bitcoin.
Cointelegraph interviewed Salman Khan, Marathon’s CFO, to understand the factors influencing miners’ decisions on whether to accumulate or sell Bitcoin.
“It’s a very systematic process that we go through from an internal process standpoint,” Khan stated.
“There are market dynamics that you have to consider […] in the short term, the Bitcoin price could fluctuate, and your decision could be impacted as a result of that.”
Khan highlighted the unique nature of Bitcoin compared to other assets.
“If we were an oil company, we would sell all our oil because that would be our primary source of revenue and cash flows,” he explained.
“Bitcoin is a digital asset and can stay on your balance sheet without storage costs.”
Marathon currently holds 18,536 Bitcoin worth over $1 billion, up 48% from last year’s 12,538.
Khan noted, “Last year, the rate of return on this asset class was 150% over the last few years. We believe in the Bitcoin price going up further.
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“We don’t need to sell Bitcoin every month.”
Other U.S. miners are also accumulating Bitcoin. Riot Platforms hasn’t sold Bitcoin since January, and CleanSpark has sold only small amounts.
CleanSpark CEO Zach Bradford said, “We are not ideological about hodling Bitcoin but view it as strategically important.
“We expect Bitcoin’s price to be volatile, but over the long term, we expect it to increase in value.”
Bradford mentioned that market indicators last year led CleanSpark to begin accumulating Bitcoin, resulting in a treasury of over 6,500 Bitcoin.
Besides hodling, U.S. miners are increasing their mining capacities.
CleanSpark aims to surpass 50 EH/s by 2025, Marathon plans to reach 50 EH/s by year-end, and Riot expects to achieve 41 EH/s in 2024 and 100 EH/s by 2027.
Marathon also purchases Bitcoin, buying 183.5 Bitcoin in January. Khan pointed to institutional investors entering the space as a sign of Bitcoin’s potential price increase.
Marathon holds $1.5 billion in cash and Bitcoin. “This space is not as developed as traditional industries, but it’s warming up,” Khan said.
For now, Marathon’s capital will remain highly liquid, either as cash or Bitcoin, to support its capital-intensive operations.
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Inflows into digital asset investment products have reached a record high of over $17.8 billion year-to-date (YTD), indicating a potential recovery in the cryptocurrency market.
This milestone follows a week where cryptocurrency investment products saw inflows totaling $1.44 billion.
According to CoinShares data, the YTD inflows for 2024 have soared to $17.8 billion, eclipsing the previous record of $10.6 billion set in 2021.
The majority of these inflows are from U.S.-based investors, with Switzerland also making significant purchases of digital assets. CoinShares reported:
“Regionally, the US led with US$1.3bn for the week, although the positive sentiment was seen across all other countries, most notable being Switzerland (a record this year for inflows), Hong Kong and Canada with US$58m, US$55m and US$24m respectively.”
Bitcoin experienced its fifth-largest weekly inflow on record, totaling over $1.35 billion.
This influx helped Bitcoin climb back above the critical $60,000 mark.
Conversely, short Bitcoin-related investment products saw their largest weekly outflows since April 2024, with over $8.6 million leaving these products.
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Last week’s increase in Bitcoin buying was likely triggered by a price drop, partly due to the German government selling BTC. CoinShares commented:
“We believe price weakness due to the German Government bitcoin sales and a turnaround in sentiment due to lower than expected CPI in the US prompted investors to add to positions.”
Ethereum followed Bitcoin with the second-largest inflows, amounting to over $72.1 million last week.
The surge in Ethereum inflows is likely driven by anticipation of the first spot Ethereum exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the US, which could start trading in the coming weeks.
US spot Ether ETF issuers expect to receive final comments from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) early this week, according to a source familiar with the situation.
Several issuers, including VanEck and 21Shares, have filed amended registrations this week, hoping to obtain the SEC’s final approval to list spot Ether ETFs. Currently, eight issuers are awaiting regulatory approval in the US.
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BlackRock has achieved a new milestone with over $10.6 trillion in assets under management (AUM), marking a $1.2 trillion increase from the previous year.
The world’s largest asset manager attributed this growth to significant inflows into exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
According to Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock, the firm’s ETFs saw record inflows at the start of 2024.
In the asset manager’s quarterly earnings report, Fink stated:
“Organic growth was driven by private markets, retail active fixed income, and surging flows into our ETFs, which had their best start to a year on record.”
BlackRock is the issuer of the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), the world’s largest spot Bitcoin ETF, which holds over $19.4 billion worth of Bitcoin and commands a 35.2% market share among all US Bitcoin ETFs, as reported by Dune.
The trading behaviors of asset management giants and ETF issuers like BlackRock can significantly influence Bitcoin’s price due to their substantial purchasing power.
In the second quarter of 2024, investors purchased $83 billion worth of BlackRock ETF shares, bringing the total for the year to over $150 billion.
The asset manager reported an 8% increase in revenue and an 11% increase in operating income year-over-year.
Fink credits part of BlackRock’s success to its “longstanding relationships with corporates and governments.”
READ MORE: Germany Completes Bitcoin Sell-Off Amid Market Turbulence and Mt. Gox Reimbursement Concerns
Fink further explained:
“These relationships differentiate BlackRock as a capital partner in private markets, driving unique deal flow for clients.
“We have strong sourcing capabilities, and we are transforming our private markets platform to bring even more benefits of scale and technology to our clients.”
Additionally, spot Bitcoin ETF inflows have turned positive after three weeks of outflows, aiding Bitcoin’s price recovery above $60,000.
US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded their second consecutive week of net positive inflows, totaling over $414 million, according to Dune data.
On July 12, BlackRock saw the largest inflows among all ETF issuers, attracting over $120 million in investments, as per Farside Investors data.
Last week, Bitcoin experienced its fifth-largest weekly inflow on record, amounting to over $1.35 billion, while short Bitcoin-related investment products saw their largest weekly outflows since April 2024, totaling over $8.6 million.
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US-based spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) experienced a robust influx on July 12, amassing over $310 million in inflows, marking their strongest performance since June 5.
According to Farside Investors data, BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust led the pack with $120 million in inflows, closely followed by the Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund with $115.1 million.
The Bitwise Bitcoin ETF secured the third spot with $28.4 million, while the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust saw a rare inflow day of $23 million.
The VanEck Bitcoin Trust ETF and Invesco Galaxy Bitcoin ETF also attracted $6 million and $4 million in inflows, respectively.
Conversely, ETFs issued by Hashdex, Franklin Templeton, Valkyrie, and WisdomTree failed to register any inflows on the day.
This surge represents the largest single-day inflow since June 5, when these ETFs garnered a total of $488.1 million.
From Monday, July 8, to Friday, these funds collectively accumulated $1.04 billion in new investments.
Since their launch just over six months ago, spot Bitcoin ETFs have accumulated $15.8 billion in net inflows.
This total includes outflows of over $18.6 billion from Grayscale’s flagship Bitcoin product, which transitioned to a spot form following SEC approval in January.
The Hashdex Bitcoin ETF is the only other spot Bitcoin ETF besides Grayscale’s to experience net outflows, albeit a modest $2 million.
CoinGecko data shows Bitcoin has increased by 1.1% over the last 24 hours, currently trading at $57,858.
However, the cryptocurrency has experienced a 15% decline in the last month and is down 21% from its all-time high.
Looking ahead, some spot Bitcoin ETF issuers are preparing to introduce spot Ether ETFs, potentially launching as early as July 15.
Nate Geraci, president of The ETF Store, indicated these issuers are awaiting SEC approval of their amended S-1 registration statements following initial feedback in late June.
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Germany completed its exit from Bitcoin holdings on July 12, as reported by Arkham Intelligence.
The transaction involved transferring 3,846 Bitcoin to “Flow Traders and 139Po,” entities characterized by Arkham as likely institutional deposit or over-the-counter services.
This marked the conclusion of a series of transactions where the German government had steadily sold off tens of thousands of Bitcoin over recent weeks, primarily sourced from an asset seizure.
The substantial sell-off exerted pressure on the Bitcoin market, contributing to prices remaining below $60,000 and its 200-day exponential moving average.
Despite Germany depleting its Bitcoin reserves, another impending factor affecting market sentiment is the $9 billion Mt. Gox reimbursement plan.
This plan stems from the 2014 collapse of the exchange, coinciding with Bitcoin’s early days of trading at a few hundred dollars.
Tony Sycamore, an analyst from IG Markets, offered insights suggesting that the Mt. Gox repayments might not devastate the markets as feared.
Sycamore emphasized the complexity of market dynamics and anticipated that approximately half of the reimbursement funds could hit exchanges in July.
Nevertheless, he asserted that the market had already priced in this development, indicating that investors were aware of the upcoming reimbursements for a considerable time.
Amidst these developments, institutional investors capitalized on the market dip.
CoinShares data highlighted that U.S. exchange-traded funds (ETFs) received $295 million in inflows during the week of July 8, reversing a trend of subdued inflows into these investment vehicles.
Overall, Germany’s final Bitcoin transaction signifies the culmination of its recent divestment strategy, contributing to ongoing market uncertainties influenced by both institutional actions and anticipated reimbursements.
As the market navigates these complexities, analysts like Sycamore believe that despite potential short-term impacts, broader market sentiments and investor behaviors are already incorporating these foreseeable developments.
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The German government’s Bitcoin wallet has decreased to 9,094 Bitcoin, only 18% of its original amount, following a series of transfers to crypto exchanges on July 11.
The wallet, holding Bitcoin seized from a film pirating website crackdown in January, has been actively transferring out billions in Bitcoin since June 19, with increased activity starting in July.
On July 11, the wallet’s balance dipped below 5,000 BTC after sending 10,620 BTC, valued at approximately $615 million, to cryptocurrency trading platforms such as Coinbase, Bitstamp, Kraken, Flow Traders, and two anonymous addresses, according to blockchain intelligence firm Arkham.
However, some of these funds were soon transferred back to the German government wallet, bringing its Bitcoin holdings back above 9,000 BTC.
Currently, the German government holds just 18% of the 49,857 Bitcoin it seized from the film piracy website Movie2k in January.
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Arkham suspects that the two anonymous addresses ending in “139Po” and “bc1qu” are likely owned by institutional deposit or over-the-counter trading service providers, although this has not been confirmed.
This extensive sell-off has not been well-received by German lawmaker and Bitcoin activist Joana Cotar, who argued earlier in July that Bitcoin could have been adopted as a “strategic reserve currency” to protect against risks in the traditional financial system.
An Ordinals user expressed their frustration through an inscription, translating to “Taxes are robbery.”
The sell-off, coupled with concerns that Mt. Gox has begun distributing over $8 billion of Bitcoin to its creditors, has significantly contributed to a BTC price slump in recent weeks.
These bearish events have pushed the Crypto Fear & Greed Index, which tracks market sentiment, into the “Extreme Fear” zone for the first time since January 2023.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $56,870, down 1.8% over the last 24 hours and 15.1% over the last month.
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A cryptocurrency wallet linked to Genesis Trading has transferred nearly $720 million worth of Bitcoin to Coinbase over the past month, indicating possible asset liquidations.
The wallet, associated with Genesis Trading, moved over 12,600 Bitcoin, valued at around $719.9 million, in the last 30 days.
These transfers mostly ranged from 500 to 700 BTC each.
According to Arkham Intelligence, the wallet’s Bitcoin balance has decreased from over 46,000 BTC a month ago to 33,356 BTC as of now.
These significant transfers occurred two months after Letitia James, the attorney general of New York, announced a settlement with Genesis.
The agreement requires Genesis to pay $2 billion to defrauded investors involved in its Earn program. The settlement also prohibits Genesis from operating in New York.
The recent transfers suggest that the Genesis Trading-labeled wallet might be preparing to repay users, given the amount of assets and the moves to Coinbase.
The wallet currently holds $2.28 billion in cryptocurrency, with Bitcoin making up $1.91 billion, followed by $364 million in Ether.
This amount exceeds the $2 billion that Genesis was ordered to pay to defrauded investors in its Earn program.
On June 14, the New York Attorney General’s office announced the recovery of over $50 million from Gemini, which will be returned to investors in its Earn program.
READ MORE: Bitcoin Long-Term Holders Remain Resilient Amid Deepest Correction of Current Price Cycle
The settlement also banned Gemini from operating any cryptocurrency lending program in New York.
James stated on X that “everyone that Gemini deceived will get their money back.” Gemini Trust assured that affected Earn users would receive “100% of the assets owed to them” within seven days.
The New York Attorney General’s office filed its lawsuit against Genesis in October 2023, later including the Digital Currency Group, its CEO Barry Silbert, and former Genesis CEO Soichiro Moro.
The lawsuit claimed Gemini defrauded 230,000 investors, including New Yorkers, through its Earn program with Genesis Global Capital and failed to disclose the associated risks.
Additionally, the NYAG filed a lawsuit against former Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky for allegedly concealing the platform’s financial troubles.
Mashinsky faces criminal charges related to securities fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit fraud and is set to go to trial in January 2025.
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