Bitcoin’s price fell slightly on Monday due to ongoing worries over distributions by the now-defunct crypto exchange Mt Gox. This also hurt sentiment in the broader cryptocurrency markets.
Despite the drop, Bitcoin found some support around the $57,000 level after hitting a four-month low earlier in the day. It fell 0.8% in the past 24 hours to $57,072.0 by 08:09 ET.
Bitcoin Hit by Mt Gox Distribution
Trustees for the now-defunct Mt Gox exchange began distributing tokens to clients affected by a 2014 hack. The exact value of the distributions is unclear, but wallets linked to the exchange moved about $9 billion worth of Bitcoin earlier this year.
Traders sold off Bitcoin, fearing that recipients of the tokens might sell their holdings due to Bitcoin’s massive price increase over the past decade. This scenario could create significant selling pressure on the token.
Several large Bitcoin wallets showed signs of potential sales, while inflows into crypto investment products have slowed over the past few weeks.
Mixed Performance in Altcoins
In broader crypto markets, major altcoins showed mixed performance despite Bitcoin’s drop. Ether, the second-largest token, rose 1% to $3,043.14, after briefly dipping below $3,000 for the first time since May. ADA/USD and XRP increased by 2.5% and 0.7%, respectively, while Solana fell 0.4%. Among meme tokens, DOGE/USD dropped 1.8%, while the Investing.com Shiba Inu Index gained 0.8%.
Bitcoin’s selling pressure affected major altcoins, as Bitcoin often serves as a market leader for the crypto industry.
Crypto prices largely ignored recent dollar weakness amid growing optimism about interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve. This trend helped Wall Street reach record highs.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s testimony this week is expected to provide more insights on interest rates. Key U.S. consumer price index inflation data will also be released.
Digital Asset Investment Funds See Inflows
Digital asset investment products saw net inflows of $441 million last week, breaking a three-week streak of net outflows, according to a new report from CoinShares. The last time these products saw net inflows was the week ending June 7, with over $2 billion added by investors.
Bitcoin accounted for $398 million of the inflows. CoinShares noted that it is unusual for BTC to represent only 90% of the total inflows. Among altcoins, Solana stood out, with SOL-linked products attracting $16 million.
CoinShares attributed the inflows to recent price weakness, driven by Mt. Gox’s repayment plans and the German government’s law enforcement agency moving large amounts of Bitcoin to exchanges.
Investors likely saw this as a buying opportunity, CoinShares said. However, the positive sentiment did not extend to blockchain equities, which experienced $8 million in outflows, bringing their year-to-date total to $556 million.
