Bitcoin Hits $65K Shaking Off Mt. Gox Payout Worries; XRP Leads Crypto Rally

The
crypto
rebound
from
last
week’s
low
showed
no
signs
of
stopping
with
bitcoin

(BTC)
hitting
its
highest
price
in
four
weeks
on
Tuesday.

BTC
surged
above
the
$65,000
level
for
the
first
time
since
late
June,
shrugging
off
a
dip
below
$63,000
earlier
in
the
day
as
wallets
related
to
the
defunct
Mt.
Gox
exchange’s
estate

moved
$2.8
billion
worth
of
BTC,
likely
preparing
to
distribute
assets
to
creditors
in
the
coming
days.

The
crypto
rally
was
broad-based,
showcased
by
the
market
benchmark
CoinDesk
20
index
(CD20)
gaining
nearly
3%
over
the
past
24
hours
with
16
of
the
20
constituents
in
the
green
during
the
day.

The
strongest
performer
among
altcoin
majors
was
XRP

(XRP),
the
native
token
of
the
XRP
Ledger
payment
network,
up
9%
during
Tuesday
and
extending
its
weekly
gains
to
35%.

The
token’s
rally
is
supported
by
whales,
or
large
asset
holders,
increasing
their
holdings,
in
a
sign
conviction
in
higher
prices,
crypto
data
provider
Santiment

pointed
out.

Another
catalyst
was
traditional
derivatives
trading
powerhouses
CME
and
CF
Benchmarks

announcing
indices
and
reference
rates
for
XRP.
These
offerings
may
boost
institutional
adoption
for
XRP,
Brad
Garlinghouse,
the
CEO
of
closely
related
blockchain
payments
firm
Ripple,

suggested.

As
Germany’s
BTC
sales
are
behind,
crypto
investors
mull
how
much
of
the
$9
billion
bitcoin
about
to
be
distributed
to
creditors
will
be
dumped
on
the
market
to
capitalize
on
the
asset’s
appreciation
after
ten
years
of
waiting.

Ki
Young
Ju,
CEO
of
crypto
analytics
firm
CryptoQuant,

argued
that
fears
over
the
sell
pressure
is
“overestimated”
and
will
not
derail
the
crypto
rally
underway.

“I
believe
this
distribution
won’t
end
the
bullish
trend,
as
the
coins
are
expected
to
react
to
market
sentiment
similarly
to
the
existing
bitcoin
supply,”
he
explained
in
an

X
post.
“Unlike
the
German
government
selling,
Mt.
Gox
creditors
aren’t
forced
to
sell,
so
it’s
not
purely
sell-side
liquidity.”

Well-followed
crypto
and
macro
analyst
Alex
Krüger
estimated
a
10%
price
drop
at
maximum
for
bitcoin
if
creditors
dump
their
reclaimed
assets
en
masse,
Ju
pointed
out.

CoinMetrics
also
said
that
the
market
should
absorb
Mt.
Gox
creditors
liquidating
their
assets
if
they
happen
orderly
and
spread
through
weeks
based
on
bitcoin’s
current
market
depth
and
trading
volumes.

“The
distribution
of
~65,000
BTC
(worth
approximately
$1.95B
at
current
prices)
could
potentially
be
absorbed
by
the
market
over
a
period
of
a
couple
weeks
without
causing
severe
disruptions,
assuming
the
liquidations
are
done
gradually
and
across
multiple
exchanges,”
CoinMetrics
analysts
wrote
in
a
Tuesday
report.

“These
findings,
however,
are
only
suggestive
of
the
depth
and
maturity
of
the
BTC
market,
but
should
assuage
fears
of
liquidity
shortage
in
the
near-term.”