Bitcoin hits 5-month low, Mt. Gox begins refunds, Circle secures MiCA license

Today’s edition of the weekly summary: Bitcoin (BTC) drops to a five-month low amid a series of whale liquidations; Mt. Gox begins creditor payments; and Circle secures the first stablecoin license under MiCA as regulatory efforts ramp up.

Downtrend market

• After a low June, reports on July 1 suggested that Bitcoin could be poised for a recovery in July. This was based on historical performance and a strong start to the month.
• However, Bitcoin’s run was halted when it hit a one-week high of $63,861 on July 1. Bitfinex analysts confirmed that BTC diverged from the currently bullish US stocks as it fell below $63,000 and failed to reclaim the level.
• glass knot stressed that Bitcoin was in an indecisive phase amid bearish pressure. BTC witnessed three consecutive intraday declines, falling below $59,000 on July 4, signals from the capitulation of the miners arose.

Bitcoin hits 5-month low

• Despite the bearish trend, Core Scientific founder Darin Feinstein remained bullish, emphasizing that BTC was undervalued. Bitcoin continued to record lower lows, falling below $57,000 on July 4 and triggering settlements between new holders.
• A combination of miner capitulation, whale foreign exchange depositsGerman government liquidations and Mt. Gox refunds exercised further downward pressure on BTC, eventually leading to a 5-month low of $53,485 on July 5.
• Bitcoin’s crash has affected the broader market, leading to losses for the altcoin market. In addition, Bitcoin mining stocks also witnessed considerable declines.

Meme coins recover

• Following the crash, Bitcoin appeared to recover, reclaiming $58,000 on July 6. However, while the birth cryptocurrency’s strength soon faded, meme coins saw more robust recoveries.
• Market data confirmed that BONK, dogwifhat (WIF), PEPE, and BRETT all recorded gains of over 15% in 24 hours on July 6. Meanwhile, BTC retreated below $58,000.
• Last week also saw relatively low crypto funding activity, mainly due to the July 4th holiday in the US. However, Sentient, a artificial intelligence (AI) research organization, has raised an impressive $85 million in seed funding. Several other startups created venture capital too.

German government distribution campaign

• The market crash was due to multiple factors bordering on selling pressure. Data from Lookonchain revealed that the German government continued to distribute part of the 50,000 BTC seized from the now-defunct piracy platform Movie2k.

• The government has been moving Bitcoin daily since July 1, sending 7,070 BTC tokens last week, a trend that has added to the pressure on the market. The German government now safe 39,826 BTC at the time of this publication.
• On July 4, Tron founder Justin Sun disclosed its willingness to buy the German government’s BTC off-market to reduce the impact of the sale. Additionally, German lawmaker and Bitcoin advocate Joana Cotar loaded the government to stop BTC sales.
• Meanwhile, the US government, which holds a larger amount of Bitcoin, distributed part of its holdings last week, totaling 274 Bitcoins.

Mt. Gox begins refunds

• Mt. Gox refunds also contributed to the selling pressure. Mt. Gox, which recently announced plans to start payments this month, accomplished a series of test transactions on July 4, confirming intentions to move their assets.
• On July 5th, the stock market collapsed transferred 47,228 BTC to a new address in preparation for repayment. Creditors eventually confirmed that refunds began on July 4, with refunds in BTC and Bitcoin Cash (BCH).

Circle secures stablecoin license under MiCA

• With MiCA’s stablecoin legislation in full swing, Circle received a license to provide stablecoin services around USDC under the new law across the European Union, becoming the first stablecoin issuer to obtain such licensing.
• Russia’s central bank may consider legalizing stablecoins to leverage them in cryptocurrency trading China.

Other regulatory developments

• European Banking Authority (EBA) confirmed expanding its Travel Rules guidelines to cover companies that provide crypto services. This change, which will come into effect from December 30, is an attempt to strengthen AML procedures.
• In the US, a judge approved a motion by Ethereum development firm Consensys to expedite the timeline of its legal case against the SEC.
• Mike Novogratz, Founder and CEO of Galaxy Digital, argued that the US cryptocurrency industry would secure much-needed regulatory clarity regardless of who wins the next presidential election.

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