Investing.com – Bitcoin was little moved on Wednesday and has suffered hefty losses over the past week as concerns about selling pressure from the distribution of now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange Mt.Gox weighed on sentiment.
The strength of the swings weighed on broader cryptocurrency prices as investors remained largely bullish on the dollar ahead of key U.S. inflation data this Friday. A reading on economic growth in the first quarter is also available.
rose 0.9% in the last 24 hours to $61,597.0 by 01:30 ET (05:30 GMT). Earlier this week, the world’s largest cryptocurrency fell to $59,000 as risk appetite remained largely negative.
Mt.Gox liquidators say Bitcoin sales will begin in July
Liquidators of now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange Mt.Gox, which collapsed following a 2014 hack, announced this week that they would begin distributing tokens stolen from customers in the first week of July.
Liquidators earlier this year released about $9 billion worth of Bitcoin from frosty wallets – an event that was intended to precede a potential distribution. This week’s announcement did not specify what the scale of payments would be.
Customers receiving stolen assets now will do so at a much higher price, which may prompt them to take the heat off the sale. This scenario creates enormous selling pressure on Bitcoin.
which will also be distributed by Mt Gox, also reported hefty losses this week.
The token has previously come under pressure amid reports suggesting that German authorities had also begun selling thousands of Bitcoins confiscated from a pirate website.
Broader sentiment towards cryptocurrencies was already under pressure from degenerating risk appetite as investors switched to more stable assets such as the dollar amid fears of high U.S. interest rates.
Crypto investment products, particularly Bitcoin exchange-traded funds, have seen two weeks of piercing outflows.
Today’s Cryptocurrency Price: Altcoins See Some Bids as Bitcoin Sentiment Sours
In the broader cryptocurrency markets, altcoins saw some gains this week as the potential for increased selling pressure in Bitcoin spurred some flow into other crypto assets.
The world’s second largest token rose 0.2% to $3,382.25, while the token’s value rose 0.8% and 0.5%, respectively.
lags behind, down 1%.
Among meme tokens, it increased by 1.5% and increased by 2.1%.
