3Commas Weekly Crypto Industry Updates July 5th, 2024

Let's discuss on the latest crypto news updates this first week of July, 2024

What caused the Bitcoin price to drop to $54K? Charts point at potential Mt. Gox repayments

Mt.Gox have started repaying creditors their Bitcoin and Bitcoin cash tokens through selected crypto exchanges according to recent reports. 

This is according to a recent Bitcoin transfer volume chart for tokens last moved in the past seven to 10 years shared by Charles Edwards, the founder of digital asset hedge fund Capriole Investments.

Edwards shared in a July 2 X post:

“The entire history of this chart has disappeared because an enormous sum of Bitcoin moved on-chain, 10X more than the previous highs. $9B. But by who? Mt. Gox. It looks like those distributions really are coming.” 

Mt.Gox will be repaying 127,000 creditors a total of $9.4 billion in Bitcoin which majorly will be absorbed by institutional investors when creditors keep selling.

Why does it matter? The Bitcoins are likely to be sold into the open market and will drive the Bitcoin price down.

A German MP advises the government to stop selling Bitcoin

A member of the German parliament, and Bitcoin enthusiast, Joana Cotar said the large Bitcoin sell-off isn’t “sensible” but counterproductive. Joan urges the government to use Bitcoin as a strategic reserve currency. 

https://x.com/JoanaCotar/status/1808888782738911614?s=19

The German government has sold 7,583 Bitcoin worth $434.9 million at current prices. The German government started selling on June 19, according to cryptocurrency intelligence platform Arkham Intelligence.

Why does it matter? The German government might have to hold Bitcoin in the future if they eventually follow the advice of the parliament members.

Over $200m in BTC long positions liquidated in the last 24hrs 

Over $201 million in long Bitcoin positions has been liquidated in the past 24 hours. The Bitcoin price touched $53,499 on Coinbase, the lowest point since February.

Moreover, the cryptocurrency liquidations have surged to $664.5 million in two months. This is the highest surge in over 24 hours for the past two months, according to data from CoinGlass.

The Crypto Fear and Greed Index has a score of 29 out of 100 on July 5, showing that the crypto market is experiencing “Fear.” This is the lowest since January. 

Why does it matter? The crypto market is going on a downtrend currently and many traders will be more careful with their trading positions.

Bitget is working to obtain a license in India to continue offering its crypto trading services.

Bitget is looking to obtain a regulatory trading license in India. Currently, Bitget is  operating in the Indian market but is facing some regulatory issues with signing up new users to the platform. 

Bitget India had assured users on July 3, through X, of its commitment to operating and working with regulators to obtain the Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) license from India's Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU).

The need for a regulatory license in India for Bitget comes a few weeks after India’s FIU approved VASP applications of other major global exchanges, such as Binance and KuCoin in May 2024.

Why does it matter? When Bitget gets its new license in India, its Indian users can continue to trade without fear of regulatory violations. 

Robinhood Crypto is now open to Hawaii and selected US regions.

Following recent regulatory changes to the money transmitter licensing from Hawaii’s Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs (DCCA), the crypto service provider has expanded its crypto services to Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

According to recent Bloomberg news, Robinhood is looking to offer crypto futures trading to customers in the U.S. and Europe using its Bitstamp regulatory licenses after the agreement to buy the crypto firm for $200m. 

Why does it matter? Crypto traders from these regions will be able to benefit from Robinhood's commission-free trading model when they become users.

Conclusion 

The market has taken a downturn since the beginning of the week evident with the increased drop in valuation of the crypto market. There is also an increasing interest from regulators requiring virtual assets providers to obtain a license to be able to offer crypto services in their region.