Bitcoin prices fell as low as $6000 in 2018 due to a Mt.Gox trustee “panicking” and selling $400 mln worth of bitcoins (BTC), reports suggest this week.
As multiple news outlets reported from March 7, Nobuaki Kobayashi has sold over 35,000 BTC and 34,000 BCH (Bitcoin Cash) in order to pay the defunct exchange’s creditors.
The sales occurred via an exchange, with each individual sale appearing to move Bitcoin markets lower. Former Mt.Gox CEO Mark Karpeles confirmed the transfers took place from December through February.
When BTC/USD hit $5900 Feb. 6, Kobayashi had transferred 18,000 BTC ($180 mln) the day prior, entrepreneur Alistair Milne reported on Twitter March 7 quoting the r/mtgoxinsolvency subreddit.
Kobayashi himself related the selling practices at a creditors’ meeting the same day, Matt Odell adds.
“They (the trustees) panicked and sold the bottom. Market absorbed it well,” he wrote by way of comment.
2/ Full list of transfers out of their wallet. More than half of the bitcoin they sold (18k btc) was transferred to an exchange on Feb 5th. The day before bitcoin hit its 3 month low of ~$6000. They panicked and sold the bottom. Market absorbed it well.
— Matt Odell (@matt_odell) March 7, 2018
h/t @alistairmilne pic.twitter.com/obYgbgBHpx
Cointelegraph also reported on the ongoing Mt.Gox FBI investigation this week, as unofficial detective work by UK broadcaster the BBC increased suspicion on an alleged London “shell” company that may have helped launder the exchange’s stolen bitcoins.
Mt.Gox was the largest Bitcoin exchange in the world until hackers stole around 850,000 BTC from it in February 2014. A criminal investigation and attempts to refund users who lost money are still ongoing.
