Bitcoin has fallen to lows not seen since May 2 after a series of selling pressures took their toll on the world’s largest digital asset by market cap. Bitcoin (BTC-USD) traded flat over the past day, changing hands for $60,871 (£48,122) on Thursday, according to data from CoinGecko.
Read more: Crypto Live Prices
The leading cryptocurrency by market value is down over 10% so far this month. However, it remains significantly higher when we look at its performance over the past year, as it is up around 100% in the last 12 months. Despite this, it is still over 17% below its record high of $73,798 in mid-March.
Other crypto tokens such as Ether (ETH-USD) and Solana (SOL-USD) are down 0.6% and 0.2%, respectively, over the past 24 hours, according to Coingecko data.
The digital asset also did not correlate with stock indices, which remained buoyant this week, with the S&P 500 (^GSPC) and Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) closing higher at the close on Wednesday.
Bitcoin Is burdened by several selling pressure factors
Over the past week, several factors have emerged that have increased selling pressure on Bitcoin. Most notably, the trustee of Mt. Gox announced that creditors of the defunct exchange will begin receiving repayments totaling approximately 142,000 Bitcoins, worth nearly $9 billion, starting in July.
Read more: Bitcoin price falls ahead of bankruptcy payouts from FTX and Mt Gox
Investors remain cautious about the possibility that Mt. Gox creditors could begin funneling their newly distributed bitcoins to exchanges after waiting over a decade to receive them.
US and German governments send confiscated Bitcoins to exchanges
Another selling pressure point has emerged as the US government recently sent 3,940 bitcoin to cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, according to data from Arkham Intelligence. The data suggests that the bitcoins were seized from Banmeet Singh, a convicted drug trafficker, in early 2024.
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As part of Singh’s ruling in January, he was forced to hand over more than 8,100 bitcoins to U.S. authorities. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration called the bitcoin seizure the largest cryptocurrency seizure the agency has ever conducted.
Additionally, an analysis by Arkham Intelligence on Tuesday found that the German government had recently transferred $24 million worth of seized bitcoins to cryptocurrency exchanges Kraken and Coinbase.
These Bitcoin transfers originated from a wallet of the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) and could be linked to the BKA’s seizure of almost 50,000 Bitcoins from a film piracy website in 2013.
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Data from Arkham Intelligence suggests that these transfers follow previous movements of $195 million worth of bitcoins to exchanges last week. In total, over $425 million was moved through the wallet linked to the BKA last week.
The transfers to exchanges could indicate an intention to liquidate some of the assets, which could potentially further increase the downward pressure on the digital assets.
Demand for spot Bitcoin ETFs is increasing
Contrary to the numerous factors contributing to selling pressure, institutional investor demand for U.S.-based spot Bitcoin ETFs (exchange-traded funds) is beginning to rise again after a period of declining interest.
On Wednesday, spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded net inflows of $21.52 million, continuing a positive trend that began on Tuesday.
Read more: What is a spot Bitcoin ETF and why did it spark a crypto rally?
The largest net inflows from spot bitcoin ETF products on Wednesday came from Fidelity’s FBTC, which recorded $19 million, according to data from SoSoValue. Grayscale’s GBTC ETF recorded net inflows of $4 million, its first positive inflow since June 5. VanEck also recorded inflows of $3 million on the same day.
Watch: What the debut of Bitcoin ETNs on the London Stock Exchange means for the European crypto market
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