Bitcoin
Steady at $64K with focus on Mt Gox, US politics By Investing.com
Investing.com– Bitcoin’s price fell marginally on Friday as the recent rally in cryptocurrency markets lost steam, with focus remaining on distributions from defunct exchange Mt Gox and further indications on the U.S. regulatory outlook.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency has seen a strong rally this week on bets that Donald Trump’s presidency will produce a better regulatory environment for cryptocurrencies, as Trump has been pushing for more crypto-friendly regulation as part of his re-election campaign.
That helped offset concerns about selling pressure from token distributions by Mt Gox, which began mobilizing billions of dollars worth of Bitcoin to return to creditors after a 2014 hack.
fell 0.9% to $64,296.7 as of 09:24 ET (13:24 GMT). It was trading up 8.5% last week.
Cryptocurrency markets were also pressured by
Bitcoin Headed for Strong Week on Trump Speculation
The world’s largest cryptocurrency rebounded from four-month lows this week after Trump appeared to enjoy a major boost in popularity following a failed assassination attempt last week.
He was formally nominated as the Republican presidential candidate this week.
The former president has maintained a broadly pro-crypto stance during his recent campaign efforts, stating that the future of cryptocurrencies should be built in the U.S. His campaign also accepts donations in cryptocurrency.
Trump is set to speak at the Bitcoin Conference in Nashville later this month, where social media speculation has suggested the presidential frontrunner could potentially outline plans to declare Bitcoin a “strategic reserve asset.” But there did not appear to be any credible grounds for this speculation.
Mt Gox fears cap Bitcoin gains
But concerns over Mt Gox distributions remained in play, especially as wallets linked to the exchange were seen mobilizing nearly $3 billion worth of tokens earlier this week.
Fears over distributions — which are expected to greatly increase Bitcoin’s supply — triggered major losses in Bitcoin in early July, although the token has since recovered.
Still, it’s unclear how large the Mt Gox distribution will be. Traders have also speculated that given Bitcoin’s massive gains over the past decade, recipients of the token will be more inclined to sell — a scenario that presents strong selling pressure on the token.
Cryptocurrency price today: Altcoins fall, but ETF speculation persists
Among the broader cryptocurrency markets, major altcoins also retreated as a recent rally cooled, although losses were limited by speculation over more U.S. spot exchange-traded fund launches.
fell 2.5% to $3,397.9 as recent reports said the Securities and Exchange Commission could approve a spot Ether ETF as early as next week.
rose 1% after recent reports also showed that a spot SOL ETF was in the works.
and fell 4.7% and 4.5% respectively, while among meme tokens, they fell 3% and slid 1.5%.
Cryptocurrencies trade at significant discount on WazirX after exploit
The North Korea-linked hacker responsible for draining $230 million from Indian cryptocurrency exchange WazirX has converted most of the stolen funds into ether, according to blockchain tracker Lookonchain. As of Friday morning, the hacker reportedly holds more than 59,097 ETH, valued at $200 million, and an additional $15 million in various alternative tokens.
As of Friday morning, almost all tokens listed on WazirX were trading at significant discounts compared to their global and local prices, indicating low liquidity and strong selling pressure. The bitcoin/rupee trading pair has fallen 22% in the past 24 hours, significantly more than the 2% drop seen on other local exchanges like CoinDCX and Zebpay. The Inu/rupee pair has fallen 30%.
WazirX suffered a security breach on one of its multisig wallets on Thursday, resulting in the loss of over $100 million worth of SHIB and $52 million worth of ETH, among other assets. The stolen funds represented over 45% of the exchange’s total reserves as of June 2024, notably diminishing users’ hopes of recovery.