Investing.com-- Bitcoin price fell marginally on Friday as a recent rebound in crypto markets ran out of steam, with focus remaining on distributions from defunct exchange Mt Gox and more cues on the U.S. regulatory outlook.
The world’s biggest cryptocurrency clocked a strong rebound this week on bets that a Donald Trump presidency will yield a better regulatory environment for crypto, given that Trump has touted friendlier crypto regulation as part of his reelection campaign.
This helped offset concerns over selling pressure from token distributions by Mt Gox, which began mobilizing billions of dollars of Bitcoin to return them to creditors after a 2014 hack.
Bitcoin fell 0.9% to $64,296.7 by 09:24 ET (13:24 GMT). It was trading up 8.5% over the past week.
Crypto markets were also pressured by
Bitcoin heads for strong week on Trump speculation
The world’s largest cryptocurrency rebounded from four-month lows this week after Trump appeared to have gotten a massive boost in popularity after a failed assassination attempt last week.
He was formally nominated as the Republican presidential candidate this week.
The former president has maintained a largely pro-crypto stance during his recent campaigning efforts, stating that the future of crypto should be built in the U.S. His campaign also accepts donations in crypto.
Trump is set to speak at the Bitcoin Conference in Nashville later this month, where social media speculation suggested the presidential frontrunner could potentially outline plans to declare Bitcoin as a “strategic reserve asset.” But there appeared to be no credible grounds for this speculation.
Mt Gox fears limit Bitcoin gains
But concerns over distributions by Mt Gox remained in play, especially as wallets linked to the exchange were seen mobilizing nearly $3 billion of tokens earlier this week.
Fears of the distributions- which are expected to greatly increase Bitcoin supplies- had sparked steep losses in Bitcoin earlier in July, although the token has since recovered.
Still, it remains unclear just how large Mt Gox’s distribution will be. Traders also speculated that given Bitcoins massive gains in the past decade, receivers of the token will be more inclined to sell- a scenario that presents heavy selling pressure on the token.
Crypto price today: altcoins dip, but ETF speculation persists
Among broader crypto markets, major altcoins also retreated as a recent rebound cooled, although losses were limited by speculation over more spot exchange-traded fund launches in the U.S.
Ether fell 2.5% to $3,397.9 as recent reports said the Securities and Exchange Commission could approve a spot Ether ETF as soon as next week.
SOL rose 1% after recent reports also showed a spot SOL ETF was in the works.
ADA and XRP fell 4.7% and 4.5%, respectively, while among meme tokens, DOGE fell 3% and SHIB slid 1.5%.
Cryptocurrencies trading at a significant discount on WazirX after exploit
The North Korea-linked hacker responsible for draining $230 million from Indian crypto exchange WazirX has converted most of the stolen funds into ether, according to blockchain tracker Lookonchain. As of Friday morning, the hacker reportedly holds over 59,097 ETH, valued at $200 million, and an additional $15 million in various alternative tokens.
By Friday morning, nearly all tokens listed on WazirX were trading at significant discounts compared to their global and local prices, indicating poor liquidity and heavy selling pressure. The bitcoin/rupee trading pair had dropped 22% in the past 24 hours, significantly more than the 2% decrease seen on other local exchanges like CoinDCX and Zebpay. The Shiba Inu/rupee pair fell by 30%.
WazirX experienced a security breach in one of its multisig wallets on Thursday, resulting in the loss of over $100 million in SHIB and $52 million in ETH, among other assets. The stolen funds represented over 45% of the exchange's total reserves as reported in June 2024, notably diminishing users' hopes for recovery.