Bitcoin Dips Below $54K as Mt. Gox Moves $2.6B in BTC

BTC slides to lowest since late February, breaching key price support.

Bitcoin (BTC) price dropped to the lowest since late February on Friday as defunct exchange Mt. Gox moved billions of dollars' worth of BTC to a new wallet, ahead of preparing for creditor repayments from the exchange's 2014 hack.

The sell-off comes as several traders have expressed concerns that the large amount of BTC being returned to creditors will hit the market and cause selling pressure.

However, some analysts have attempted to downplay the potential sell-off, stating that the time taken for creditors to access their coins and the tax implications will limit the immediate selling pressure.

Bitcoin's sell-off continued during Friday's Asian trading hours as defunct exchange Mt. Gox moved $2.6 billion in BTC to a new wallet, ahead of preparing for creditor repayments from the exchange's 2014 hack.

The leading cryptocurrency by market value fell over 4% to $53,600, reaching the lowest since Feb. 26, as per TradingView and CoinDesk.

At 00:27 UTC, Mt. Gox transferred 47,228 BTC from cold storage to a new wallet, according to blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence. The exchange is slated to start distributing assets stolen from clients in a 2014 hack.

The impending repayments, which include 140,000 BTC ($7.73 billion), 143,000 BCH, and the Japanese yen, were announced last month.

Since then, traders have been concerned that creditors who have patiently waited for reimbursements for a decade will immediately sell upon receiving coins, creating mass selling pressure in the market.

Note that BTC was trading at roughly $600 when the exchange was hacked in 2014, and today, it is worth over $55,000.

Several analysts have recently tried to calm nerves by saying the potential selling pressure from reimbursements would be limited, but to no avail.

BTC has declined 10% in seven days and 22% in four weeks. The intense sell-off has flipped the horizontal support of $56,500 stemming from May lows into resistance.

Besides, the bears have established a foot hold below the crucial 200-day SMA and the bull market trendline.