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Steady at $64k with focus on Mt Gox, US Politics By Investing.com
Investing.com — Bitcoin price fell slightly on Friday as the recent rally in cryptocurrency markets ran out of steam, with attention still focused on distributions from the defunct Mt Gox exchange and other clues about the U.S. regulatory outlook.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency has rallied strongly this week on bets that a Donald Trump presidency will lead to a better regulatory environment for cryptocurrencies, as Trump has pushed for more favorable regulation for cryptocurrencies as part of his re-election campaign.
This helped offset concerns about selling pressure from token distribution 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 by 9:24 a.m. ET (13:24 GMT). It was up 8.5% from a week ago.
Cryptocurrency markets have also come under pressure from
Bitcoin Heads for a Positive Week on Trump Speculation
The world’s largest cryptocurrency recovered from four-month lows this week, after Trump appeared to get a huge boost in popularity following last week’s failed assassination attempt.
This week he was formally nominated as the Republican presidential candidate.
The former president maintained a largely pro-crypto stance during his recent campaign, saying that the future of cryptocurrency should be built in the United States. His campaign also accepts cryptocurrency donations.
Trump is scheduled 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 appeared to be no credible basis for the speculation.
Mt Gox Fears It Will Limit Bitcoin Gains
But concerns about Mt Gox’s distributions have remained high, especially as wallets linked to the exchange mobilized nearly $3 billion in tokens earlier this week.
Fears over the distributions, which are expected to significantly boost Bitcoin supplies, had caused Bitcoin to suffer sharp losses in early July, although the token has since recovered.
However, it is still unclear how broad the distribution of Mt Gox will be. Traders have also speculated that given the huge gains of Bitcoin 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 Drop, But ETF Speculation Persists
Among broader cryptocurrency markets, major altcoins also fell as a recent rebound cooled, although losses were limited by speculation about more spot exchange-traded fund launches in the United States.
fell 2.5% to $3,397.9 as recent reports say the Securities and Exchange Commission could approve a spot Ether ETF as early as next week.
rose 1% after recent reports showed a spot SOL ETF was also in the works.
and fell by 4.7% and 4.5% respectively, while among meme tokens, they fell by 3% and slipped by 1.5%.
Cryptocurrencies trade at significant discount on WazirX after exploit
The North Korean-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 held more than 59,097 ETH, worth $200 million, and another $15 million in various alternative tokens.
By Friday morning, nearly all tokens listed on WazirX were trading at significant discounts to global and local prices, indicating low liquidity and strong selling pressure. The bitcoin/rupee trading pair was down 22% in the past 24 hours, significantly more than the 2% decline seen on other local exchanges such as CoinDCX and Zebpay. The Inu/rupee pair was down 30%.
WazirX suffered a security breach on Thursday in one of its multisig wallets, resulting in the loss of over $100 million in SHIB and $52 million in ETH, among other assets. The stolen funds accounted for over 45% of the exchange’s total reserves as of June 2024, significantly reducing users’ hopes for recovery.