The co-founder and CEO of on-chain data analytics firm CryptoQuant has revealed that stolen assets, seven-year-old Bitcoin (BTC) linked to the Mount Gox exchange hack in 2014 are on the move. In fact, 10,000 bitcoins were allegedly moved from the former cryptocurrency exchange BTC wallets by criminals, with a small portion of the shares transferred to the HitBTC trading platform.
“Seven-year-old 10,000 BTC moved today. No surprise, it’s from criminals, like most of the old Bitcoins. It’s the BTC-e exchange wallet related to the 2014 Mt. Gox hack. They sent 65 BTC to HitBTC a few hours ago, so it’s not a government auction or something.”
Asked why the suspected criminals are now selling bitcoin considering that the number 1 digital asset is down more than 70% from its November 2021 all-time high, the CEO of CryptoQuant points to the fact that the stolen assets have still appreciated more than 5,500% since 2015, despite the 2022 slump in markets.
“Well, they don’t care. It’s 55x profit for them anyway. They got these Bitcoins when the price was $297 in Jan 2015, and the BTC price is $16,617 now, so approximately profit and loss is 5,594%.”
To which he adds that the incoming supply may increase selling pressure and tumble prices. “I’m not saying they’re going to sell all those 10,000 Bitcoins.
We never know when they will sell the rest of the BTC.
What we do know is that 10,000 BTC was moved by criminals and could be potential sell-side liquidity since they sent 0.6% of their assets to exchanges.”
Ki Young has previously stated that in most cases, movements of old Bitcoin induce bearish price action and we shall also consider the imminent liquidation of the Mt Gox recouped assets, as the appointed trustee of the former Tokyo-based cryptocurrency exchange has set a date for creditors to register and choose their preferred repayment method. According to a recent company press release, those owed BTC/money by Mount Gox have until January 10 2023 (Japan time) to complete the first steps in the repayment process.
The document also states that those who do not register online by the deadline will not receive a one-time prepayment or refund for partial digital asset cryptocurrency redemption requests. The only option they will have for a refund is to go in person to Mt.Gox headquarters to receive payment in Japanese yen.
