Bitcoin Threatens $60K on Mt. Gox News, but Sales Could Be Less Than Feared

Bitcoin {{BTC}}, defunct Mt. It led to a sharp decline in crypto prices on Monday after the trustees of the Gox crypto exchange said it would begin refunding more than 140,000 BTC in July to customers whose assets were stolen in a 2014 hack.

At press time, Bitcoin was trading at $60,700, down more than 5% in the last 24 hours and at its weakest level since the beginning of May. Ether {{ETH}} was lower by a similar amount as the broader CoinDesk 20 Index.

Read more: Mt. Gox to Start Refunds in July; BTC Dropped Below $61 Thousand

Those selling today are considering the impact of more than 140,000 Bitcoins hitting the market in less than a month. To put that number in perspective, this would be much less than the immediate liquidation of the spot bitcoin ETF, which held 167,375 Bitcoins at Fidelity’s last check.

“We think less money will be distributed than people think and that will cause less bitcoin selling pressure than the market expected,” Galaxy head of research Alex Thorn said.

Thorn said his research suggested 75% of creditors would receive payment “early” in July, meaning a distribution of about 95,000 coins. Thorn believes 65,000 of that will go to individual creditors, but he thinks they may be more “diamond-filled” than many expect. Among the reasons for this, he said, is that they have resisted “compelling and aggressive offers from demand funds” for years, not to mention capital gains taxes, given that Bitcoin has risen 140-fold since the crash.

Turning to these demand funds, Thorn, who has interviewed some, suggests that the overwhelming majority of partners in these funds are high-net-worth bitcoiners looking to build their stacks at a discount, as opposed to arbs looking for a quick profitable trade.