What caused Bitcoin to fall below $60,000?

Author: Zoltan Vardai, CoinTelegraph; Compiled by Wuzhu, Golden Finance

On July 3, the price of Bitcoin fell below the $60,000 mark-Mt. Gox may start releasing $9 billion worth of BTC.

BTC/USD, 1-day chart. Source: CoinMarketCap

Since June, the price of Bitcoin has been in a downward trend, falling by nearly 18% in the second quarter of 2024.

Investors have been eagerly anticipating a break above the $70,000 mark to pave the way for new all-time highs, but the loss of the current $60,000 support could mean a longer price correction.

Mt.Gox Begins Repaying Creditors?

Bitcoin’s drop below $60,000 could be caused by Mt. Gox’s repayment of assets to creditors in early July.

According to a chart of the last transferred Bitcoin volume in the last 7 to 10 years shared by Charles Edwards, founder of digital asset hedge fund Capriole Investments, the defunct cryptocurrency exchange may have begun repaying creditors.

Edwards wrote in a July 2 post:

Bitcoin: Spent Volume, Source: Charles Edwards

About 127,000 Mt. Gox creditors are owed more than $9.4 billion worth of Bitcoin and have been waiting for more than a decade to get their funds back. This could mean many investors will cash out after a decade without making a profit.

However, the $9 billion from Mt. Gox is likely to be absorbed by institutional money and flow into U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds. According to Dune, these ETFs have accumulated more than $52.5 billion worth of Bitcoin since their launch in January.

Bitcoin ETFs, net flows. Source: Dune

Did Bitcoin whales cause Bitcoin to fall below $60,000?

Whales, or large Bitcoin holding entities, could cause the price of Bitcoin to fall below the most important psychological level.

An unknown whale sold $180 million worth of Bitcoin in three minutes — an extremely high amount for a market value to be sold in such a short period of time.

According to a July 3 post, popular industry observer Zaheer spotted the big sell-off based on the chart below.

BTC/USD, price and total funds chart. Source: Zaheer

According to Lookonchain, another unknown whale deposited 1,723 bitcoins worth more than $168 million to Binance in the past 24 hours, which is also one of the reasons for the price drop. BTC whale moves to Binance. Source: Lookonchain BTC whale moves to the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange suggests the entity is looking to sell and lock in profits.