What caused Bitcoin to fall below $60,000?

On July 3, the price of Bitcoin fell below the $60,000 mark — Mt. Gox could start releasing $9 billion worth of BTC.

BTC/USD, 1-day chart. Source: CoinMarketCap

The price of Bitcoin has been on a downward trend since June, falling nearly 18% in the second quarter of 2024.

Investors have been eagerly awaiting a break above the $70,000 mark to pave the way for new all-time highs, but losing the current support at $60,000 could mean a longer price correction.

Mt.Gox starts paying back creditors?

Bitcoin’s drop below $60,000 may be due to the fact that Mt. Gox is due to repay its creditors’ assets in early July.

The defunct cryptocurrency exchange may have started paying back creditors, according to a chart of Bitcoin transfer volumes for the token last moved over the past seven to ten years shared by Charles Edwards, founder of digital asset hedge fund Capriole Investments.

Edwards wrote in a July 2 post:

Bitcoin: Spent Volume, Source: Charles Edwards

Some 127,000 Mt. Gox creditors, who are owed more than $9.4 billion worth of bitcoin, have been waiting for more than a decade to get their money back, which could mean many investors will cash out after a decade without a profit.

However, the $9 billion from Mt. Gox is likely to be absorbed by institutional money and flow into U.S. spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds. According to Dune, these ETFs have accumulated more than $52.5 billion worth of bitcoin since their launch in January.

Bitcoin ETFs, net flows. Source: Dune

Did Bitcoin Whales Cause Bitcoin to Drop Below $60K?

Whales or large Bitcoin holding entities could cause the price of Bitcoin to fall below the most important psychological level.

An unknown whale sold $180 million worth of Bitcoin in three minutes — an extremely high amount for a sale at market value in such a short period of time.

According to a post on July 3, popular industry observer Zaheer spotted the big sell-off based on the chart below.

BTC/USD, price and total funds chart. Source: Zaheer

According to Lookonchain, another unknown whale deposited 1,723 Bitcoins worth more than $168 million to Binance in the past 24 hours and also contributed to the price drop.

BTC whales moving to Binance. Source: Lookonchain

Bitcoin whale transfers to the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange suggest the entity is looking to sell and lock in profits.