Bitcoin's (BTC) sell-off continued during Friday's Asian hours as defunct exchange Mt. Gox moved sizeable BTC to a new wallet, potentially preparing for creditor repayments.
The leading cryptocurrency by market value fell over 4% to $53,600, reaching the lowest since Feb. 26, according to charting platform TradingView and CoinDesk.
At 00:27 UTC, Mt. Gox transferred 47,228 BTC ($2.6 billion) 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 worried 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.
BTC's daily chart. (TradingView/CoinDesk) (TradingView/CoinDesk)