Bitcoin
MtGox’s $9B Payout Is Creditors’ Gain, But Bitcoin’s Pain
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Bitcoin is trading below $60,000 for the first time since early May, when exchange MtGox announced that it will begin distributing approximately $9 billion in cryptocurrencies and $50 million in bitcoin cash to its long-suffering creditors.
The now-defunct Tokyo-based platform, once the world’s largest bitcoin spot exchange, closed in 2014 after a series of hacks. Of the 950,000 bitcoins lost, approximately 140,000 were recovered after MtGox declared bankruptcy, leaving thousands of creditors around the world stranded. Nine years later, authorities identified the hackers as two Russian citizens loaded by the US Department of Justice for conspiring to launder approximately 647,000 bitcoins from the exchange.
Over the years, MtGox has faced several delays in repaying creditors, but today administrator Nobuaki Kobayashi announced the exchange will begin distributing bitcoin and bitcoin cash (which customers automatically received in 2017 when the token was created) to the cryptocurrency exchanges it has agreed to distribute payments with, which include Kraken, Bitstamp and BitGo, next month. The exchange emerged from an online card trading service, and MtGox stands for Magic: The Gathering Online Exchange.
The crypto market’s reaction was swift, with more than $200 million worth of long positions forcibly liquidated in the last 12 hours, according to Georgi Koreli, co-founder and CEO of privacy protocol Hinkal. “We expect the payments to be a stress for the market, however, they could be a tremendous opportunity for those waiting to ‘buy the dip,’” Koreli said in a comment to Forbes.
Alex Thorn, head of research at Galaxy Digital, a cryptocurrency-focused investment firm founded by billionaire Mike Novogratz, believes the market is overestimating the potential impact. Of the 140,000 bitcoins held by the bankruptcy estate, only about 65,000 will be handed over to 20,000 individual creditors, many of whom are tech-savvy early adopters and well-known bitcoiners, Thorn noted in a research note to clients last seen by Forbes. month. These include co-founders of bitcoin technology firm Blockstream Adam Back and Greg Maxwell and longtime bitcoin booster Roger Ver.
A significant reason for lenders not to sell all of their tokens at once is the risk of massive capital gains taxes. Many creditors purchased their bitcoins for $451 (the price when MtGox filed for bankruptcy) at most, and with bitcoin now trading just below $60,000, the tax implications are considerable.
The remaining tokens will be sent to separate large claims and bankruptcy funds. Contrary to market expectations, Thorn suggested that these funds will not flood the market. “In speaking with several LPs in these funds, we do not believe there will be significant sales from this group. Similarly, Bitcoinica (a bitcoin exchange that was also hacked and whose administrator placed its recovered coins in Mt. Gox for safekeeping…) will not be able to sell for payment because the funds will enter their own bankruptcy process in New Zealand,” He wrote.
Matt Hougan, chief investment officer at crypto asset manager Bitwise, agrees: “The best studies on MtGox claims suggest that most early investors have already sold their claims on the secondary claims market. For example, NYDIG has some quality research that suggests the actual amount likely to enter the market is closer to $3 billion than $10 billion. Still, $3 billion is a lot of bitcoin. I suspect what you are seeing now is market pre-positioning for these distributions. That makes this a ‘sell the rumor, buy the news’ event.”
Bitcoin cash, however, is expected to perform worse. It was created in 2017 as a result of a blockchain split when some developers were unhappy with Bitcoin’s scalability, according to CoinGecko. “The creditor group is significantly comprised of ‘OG’ bitcoiners who have never purchased bitcoin cash and will likely have no affinity for the 2017 bitcoin fork,” Thorn wrote, noting that bitcoin has 60 times more liquidity than bitcoin cash in the Kraken and Bitstamp, where individual lenders will receive coins.
All known MtGox admin wallet addresses can be tracked via Arkham Intelligence.
Bitcoin recently traded at $59,026, according to CoinGecko, down 8.3% in the last 24 hours.
Bitcoin
‘This is huge’ — Billionaire Mark Cuban issues ‘incredible’ Bitcoin and crypto prediction amid price slump
Bitcoin has surged again this year under former President Donald Trump Cryptocurrency boosts US presidential election in November with ‘revolutionary’ plan.
The price of bitcoin has surged to more than its all-time high in recent months, surpassing $70,000 per bitcoin and triggering a wave of mega-optimistic predictions about the price of bitcoinalthough it fell again this week to below $65,000 after the Federal Reserve kept interest rates steady.
Now, as Elon Musk suddenly breaks his silence on bitcoin and cryptocurrenciesBillionaire investor Mark Cuban called a California plan to digitize 42 million car titles using blockchain an “incredible step forward” and “huge” for cryptocurrencies.
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Mark Cuban, famous Shark Tank investor and billionaire owner of the NBA team Dallas Mavericks, has… [+] called a cryptocurrency update “amazing” amid bitcoin’s price slump.
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The California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) has digitized 42 million car titles using blockchain, it was reported by Reuters, through technology company Oxhead Alpha on the Avalanche blockchain and designed to detect fraud and facilitate the securities transfer process.
“This is an incredible development for crypto,” Cuban, best known as an investor on TV’s Shark Tank and owner of the Dallas Mavericks NBA team, posted on X, joking that U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler could sue the state as part of his hostility toward cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology.
“The reason this is huge for crypto is because people who hold the tokens will have an app with an Avalanche wallet,” Cuban said. “Tens of millions of Californians having and using a crypto wallet in the next five years, or however long it takes, normalizes the use of wallets and crypto.”
John Wu, president of Avalanche developer Ava Labs, told Reuters that California’s DMV is “creating a wallet that you can download on your phone.”
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Bitcoin’s price has rallied this year, triggering a wave of bullish bitcoin price predictions from… [+] people like billionaire Mark Cuban.
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Last month, Cuban predicted that if the US dollar falls as the global reserve currency, bitcoin could become “a global ‘safe haven’” and a “global currency.” potentially sending the price of bitcoin to a much higher level.
According to Cuban, bitcoin could become what its most ardent supporters “envision” — a means “of protecting our economies… This is already happening in countries facing hyperinflation.”
The price of bitcoin has skyrocketed over the past year, largely due to the world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock, leading a bitcoin attack on Wall Street.
Bitcoin
Large Bitcoin (BTC) Holders Added $5.4 Billion Worth of BTC in July, Data Shows
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Bitcoin
Peter Schiff criticizes Michael Saylor’s Bitcoin hype by U.Today
U.Today – Renowned economist and cryptocurrency critic Peter Schiff has criticized Michael Saylor’s recent hype about the growing adoption of cryptocurrencies as a strategic treasury asset by corporations.
Michael Saylor, a well-known Bitcoin advocate and president of MicroStrategy, recently shared his enthusiasm on X about the growing adoption of Bitcoin as a strategic treasury asset.
Citing a comment made by Bitcoin investor Bill Miller in a recent interview with CNBC, Saylor tweeted: “We now have more companies coming forward and saying we will put Bitcoin on our balance sheet as a strategic treasury asset.”
However, not everyone shares Saylor’s enthusiasm. Schiff, a vocal Bitcoin critic and gold bull, was quick to respond with his usual skepticism. In a pointed tweet, Schiff argued: “Bitcoin is neither strategic nor appropriate as a treasury asset. Companies should not risk shareholder funds. They should pay dividends and let shareholders risk their own money.”
Bitcoin enthusiasts are not intimidated
However, Schiff’s criticism shouldn’t deter Bitcoin enthusiasts, who often take Schiff’s words with a pinch of salt. To put things in context, Michael Saylor began buying Bitcoin in 2020 as an inflation hedge and alternative to money. Saylor’s company, MicroStrategy, is among the largest public holders of Bitcoin in the world. As of June 20, it held 226,331 BTC, purchased for around $8.33 billion at an average price of $36,798.
Over the weekend, Schiff was surprised when 87% of the more than 11,000 Bitcoin holders who responded to his X survey said they would not sell any of their Bitcoin even if the price dropped more than 99% to $120. They said not only would they not sell, but that they would continue to buy even when prices dropped.
Schiff unexpectedly revealed that “the main selling point for investors to buy Bitcoin is its excellent past performance record.”
At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $66,067, having reached all-time highs of nearly $74,000 in mid-March.
Bitcoin
Bitcoin Falls as ETF Flows Reverse, Mt. Gox Moves Billions
In a week of drastic fluctuations, the price of Bitcoin (BTC) has retreated from its highs and is currently trading at US$66,250, down 0.9% in European trading.
This volatility comes on the heels of a significant surge above $70,000 earlier in the week, fueled by former President Donald Trump’s ambitious cryptocurrency plans announced in a Bitcoin Conference in Nashville.
Trump’s announcement to fire Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler and establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve if elected president has temporarily sent the cryptocurrency market into a frenzy.
However, the excitement was short-lived as a series of events unfolded which caused investor sentiment to sour.
A significant sell-off of about 8% was triggered when the US Marshals Service moved $2 billion in Bitcoin for new wallets.
This move has reignited fears of a potential large-scale liquidation, compounded by lingering concerns over a possible Bitcoin liquidation from Mt. Gox. Early this morning, Mt. Gox administrator transferred US$2.2 billion value of your BTC assets in a new wallet.
Meanwhile, the US Bitcoin ETF spot market is showing signs of fluctuation, according to data from SoSo Value. On July 30, Bitcoin spot funds experienced their first net outflow in five days, totaling $18.3 million.
The Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) saw outflows of $73.6 million, while the BlackRock iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) attracted $74.9 million in inflows. But outflows from other funds left the category in the red at the end of Tuesday’s trading session. The total net asset value of spot Bitcoin ETFs currently stands at a substantial $58.5 billion.
In other crypto news, Ripple (XRP) is up 8.6% in the past 24 hours, hitting over 64 cents – its highest point since March 25, according to CoinGecko. data.
This rally comes amid a scheduled token unlock and growing optimism around a potential deal in the long-running SEC vs. Ripple lawsuit.
The crypto community is closely watching the SEC’s actions, particularly its intention to amend its complaint against Binance regarding “Third-Party Cryptocurrency Securities,” which some interpret as a positive sign for Ripple.
On a market analysis noteSingapore-based cryptocurrency trading desk QCP Capital wrote that while election headlines continue to dominate, several crucial macroeconomic events loom on the horizon.
“Election headlines will continue to be a key focus, but several key macroeconomic events are also on the horizon. Key events starting with the FOMC meeting on Wednesday, megacap tech earnings (Apple, Amazon, Meta) throughout the week, and unemployment data on Friday,” QCP Capital wrote.
Edited by Stacy Elliott.
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