Investing.com– Bitcoin fell sharply early in the Asian session on Monday, reversing a modest weekend rebound to hit its lowest level in more than four months on concerns about token inflows from shuttered cryptocurrency exchange Mt. Gox.
It fell 5.8% in the past 24 hours to $54,601.7 by 21:28 ET (01:28 GMT), approaching its lowest level since delayed February. The token also broke below key support at $55,000.
Bitcoin has seen bulky losses in the past two weeks amid concerns about Mt Gox’s token distribution. The exchange’s trustees said last week that they had begun distributing tokens stolen in the 2014 hack back to creditors through a series of exchanges, although they did not specify exactly how many tokens had been returned.
Earlier this year, wallets linked to the exchange had accumulated about $9 billion worth of bitcoin.
Mt Gox has become a major point of contention in cryptocurrency markets as investors speculate that given the rapid rise in the price of bitcoin over the past decade, recipients of the token will likely sell it on the open market, thereby increasing its supply.
Fears of such a scenario have led to widespread token sell-offs, with several Bitcoin “whale” wallets also coming online and putting their holdings up for sale.
Bitcoin sales spilled over into the broader cryptocurrency market, with the world’s second-largest token falling 7.3% to a two-month low.