Mt. Gox Sends $75 Million In BTC To Bitstamp Exchange, Sell-Off Ahead?

Defunct cryptocurrency exchange Mt. Gox appears to have transferred approximately $75.36 million worth of Bitcoin to Bitstamp crypto exchange in what seems to be a preparatory move for another round of payouts to its creditors, data from on-chain analytics platform Arkham Intelligence shows.

Wider Crypto Market Tumbles After Mt. Gox Bitcoin Transfers

The Japan-based cryptocurrency trading platform moved 1264.71 BTC – worth $75.36 million – to Bitstamp’s wallet address at 8:49 AM UTC, August 21, 2024. 

Subsequently, the crypto market witnessed mixed price action as Bitcoin (BTC) was down by 0.3% in the last 24 hours. In the same vein, other leading digital assets by market cap, such as Ethereum (ETH), rose by a meager 0.1%, while BNB tumbled by 2.7%, Solana (SOL) plummeted by 1.8%, and XRP fell slightly by 0.3% in the same period.

Related Reading: Mt. Gox Bitcoin Distribution Nears Its End Following $2 Billion Move, How Much Is Left?

The total crypto market cap fell from $2.12 trillion to $2.06 trillion, down by 2.7% in the last 24 hours. In terms of liquidations, CoinGlass data shows that $87.80 million worth of liquidations occurred in the past 24 hours.

Another Creditor Payout On The Way?

It’s no surprise that crypto traders get alarmed whenever a significant crypto deposit hits an exchange, and the $75 million BTC transfer to Bitstamp exchange is no exception. However, unlike other random transfers, there are reasons to believe that outward transfers might indicate that another creditor payout is on its way. 

Interestingly, the exchange also transferred 13,264 BTC – worth $784.20 million – to an unknown wallet on August 20, 2024. Details of the recipient’s identity remain unclear.

It should be recalled that Mt. Gox trustees nominated Bitstamp as one of the crypto exchanges to distribute the outstanding payouts owed to the hacked crypto exchange’s creditors. In July 2024, some creditors of the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange expressed joy as the long-awaited payout process finally commenced.

However, not all is hunky-dory when it comes to the exchange’s creditor payouts, as crypto traders fear that an industry-wide sell-off could be on the cards despite the assurance by creditors that they will hold on to their digital assets. 

Despite the rise in concerns toward weakening price-action caused by payouts to creditors, data from on-chain analytics provider CryptoQuant shows that the reimbursed Mt. Gox creditors tend to HODL Bitcoin rather than dumping it in the market. 

Alex Thorn, head of research at Galaxy Digital, has noted that it’s likely that most of the creditors believe in Bitcoin’s long-term outlook and possess a “deep understanding” of the technology.

Related Reading: Bitcoin Shrugs Mt. Gox Fears: Why Is Daily BTC Exchange Inflow So Low?

That said, the impact of the latest Bitcoin transfer from Mt. Gox on the digital assets market in the short to medium term remains to be seen. The exchange still holds over 34,000 BTC, priced at over $2 billion according to the current market price.