Defunct cryptocurrency exchange Mt. Gox appears to have transferred approximately $75.36 million worth of Bitcoin to the Bitstamp crypto exchange in what appears to be a preparatory move for a new round of payouts to its creditors, data from on-chain analytics platform Arkham Intelligence shows.

Broad Crypto Market Collapses After Mt. Gox Bitcoin Transfers

The Japan-based cryptocurrency trading platform moved 1,264.71 BTC – worth $75.36 million – to Bitstamp’s wallet address at 08:49 UTC, August 21, 2024.

Subsequently, the crypto market saw mixed price action as Bitcoin (BTC) fell by 0.3% over the past 24 hours. In the same vein, other leading digital assets by market cap such as Ethereum (ETH) rose by a meager 0.1%, while BNB fell by 2.7%, Solana (SOL) plummeted by 1.8%, and XRP fell slightly by 0.3% over the same period.

Related Reading: Mt. Gox Bitcoin Distribution Nears End After $2 Billion Move, How Much Is Left?

The total crypto market cap fell from $2.12 trillion to $2.06 trillion, a decline of 2.7% over the past 24 hours. In terms of liquidations, Data from CoinGlass shows that In the past 24 hours, liquidations worth $87.80 million took place.

Is another payment from the creditor coming?

It’s no surprise that crypto traders get alarmed when a significant crypto deposit hits an exchange, and the $75 million BTC transfer to the Bitstamp exchange is no exception. However, unlike other random transfers, there are reasons to believe that outgoing transfers could signal that another creditor payout is imminent.

Interestingly, on August 20, 2024, the exchange also transferred 13,264 BTC – worth $784.20 million – to an unknown wallet. Details about the recipient’s identity remain unclear.

It should be recalled that the trustees of Mt. Gox nominated Bitstamp as one of the crypto exchanges to distribute the outstanding payouts owed to the creditors of the hacked crypto exchange. In July 2024, some creditors of the collapsed crypto exchange expressed joy when the long-awaited payout process finally began.

But all is not well when it comes to the exchange’s payouts to creditors, as crypto traders fear an industry-wide sale could happen despite creditors’ assurances that they will keep their digital assets.

Despite growing concerns over weakening price action due to creditor payouts, data from on-chain analytics provider CryptoQuant shows that repaid Mt. Gox creditors tend to HODL Bitcoin rather than dump it on the market.

Alex Thorn, head of research at Galaxy Digital, has noticed that it is likely that most creditors believe in Bitcoin’s long-term prospects and have a “deep understanding” of the technology.

That said, the impact of Mt. Gox’s latest Bitcoin transfer on the digital asset market in the short to medium term remains to be seen. The exchange still holds over 34,000 BTC, priced at over $2 billion as per the current market price.

Main image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView.com