Bitcoin was under pressure early Tuesday after failed exchange Mt. Gox began a long-awaited transfer of more than $9 billion in the digital asset to creditors.
More than 140,000 bitcoin was transferred from Mt. Gox-linked wallets to a new wallet as of early Tuesday, according to Arkham, a research and analytics firm. Creditors have been awaiting repayment since the collapse of the exchange in 2014.
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“[W]e believe that distribution to creditors is imminent, possibly as soon as the next few days or weeks,” said Alex Thorn, head of research at Galaxy, in a post on social-media platform X.
The movement, however, appeared to unnerve traders. Bitcoin BTCUSD was down 1.8% at $68,087 in recent trade and fell as low as $67.433.
“This event temporarily pressurizes the markets as the recipients of the assets can sell them immediately. However, this selloff will finally close a longstanding phobia,” said Alex Kuptsikevich, senior market analyst at FxPro, in a note.
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