Cryptocurrency market tumbles: $665M liquidated as Bitcoin falls

The crypto market experienced a significant downturn in the past 24 hours, with over $665 million in liquidations according to CoinGlass data.

CoinMarketCap data shows that world’s top cryptocurrency by market cap Bitcoin (BTC) saw a 7.4% drop, trading at $54,422 at the time of reporting. This price decline coincides with the defunct Mt Gox exchange’s movement of approximately $2.7 billion worth of Bitcoin, as it prepares for creditor payouts scheduled to begin this month.

Data from Coinglass also reveals that 230,541 traders were affected by liquidations across centralized exchanges. Bitcoin led these liquidations with $222.1 million, of which $181.8 million were long positions.

Ethereum also faced significant pressure, with $163.4 million liquidated, including $143.3 million in long positions. Ether’s price fell 10.57% to $2,890 in the last 24 hours.

Data provided by blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence shows that Mt. Gox moved 47,228.7 BTC ($2.71 billion) to a wallet address, which subsequently redistributed the funds. Another Mt Gox-related address transferred 1,545 BTC ($85 million) to a Bitbank hot wallet.

The news follows Mt. Gox moving 12,240 BTC, worth approximately $840 million at the time, into a new wallet address in late May. Mt. Gox was once the world’s leading Bitcoin exchange, handling the majority of global Bitcoin transactions in its heyday.

Founded in 2010 and based in Tokyo, it played a pivotal role in the early cryptocurrency ecosystem. However, Mt. Gox’s downfall came in 2014 due to a combination of security flaws, technical issues, and a massive hack.

The exchange announced that approximately 850,000 BTC belonging to customers and the company had vanished, presumably stolen. Unable to recover from this catastrophic loss, Mt. Gox filed for bankruptcy protection in Japan and the United States.

Peter Chung from Presto Research suggested that Bitcoin Cash (BCH) might face stronger selling pressure than Bitcoin due to its smaller investor base. Despite the market volatility, Ben Caselin, CMO of VALR, maintains that Bitcoin’s core thesis remains unchanged. He told The Block in a recent interview:

Volatility and periods of selling do not change Bitcoin’s core thesis. […] With any luck, we can expect prices in the lower 50,000s or even slightly lower for weeks… But nothing fundamental has changed about the market structure and current price movements are really only a concern to short-term speculators.

The post Cryptocurrency market tumbles: $665M liquidated as Bitcoin falls appeared first on ReadWrite.