People walk past a neon sign advertising a Bitcoin and Ethereum cryptocurrency exchange in Warsaw, Poland, May 19, 2024.
Yap Ariens | Nurphoto | Getty Images
Bitcoin led the crypto market down on Tuesday, the Ethereum ETF’s first trading day, as investors locked in profits after Mt. Gox sent more bitcoin to creditors and the cryptocurrency posted its best week since March.
Bitcoin prices fell 3% to $65,891.50, according to Coin Metrics, while Ether dropped more than 1% to $3,445.10, with investors and analysts attributing the declines to profit-taking after gains of 22.85% and 12.75%, respectively, last week.
Additionally, Bitcoin network activity has revealed that Mt. Gox has moved around 5,000 Bitcoin off the exchange, likely as part of a creditor repayment process that began this month. The exchange, which went bankrupt after a massive hack 10 years ago, has until October to return more than 140,000 Bitcoin to hack victims.
The market is expected to absorb the negative impact thanks to the success of the Ethereum ETF and long-term optimism over the US presidential elections.
“We are in line with the market consensus that adoption here will be relatively slow and muted compared to the introduction of a bitcoin ETF,” said Devin Ryan, an analyst at JMP Securities. “One reason for this is that the adoption of a bitcoin ETF is still in its early stages, with many of the big funds being put into the ETF not even up and running yet,” he added.
But in the meantime, Ethereum could be volatile, said Nexo co-founder Antoni Trenchev, who noted that when the Bitcoin ETF launched in January, Bitcoin surged to a record high before plummeting 20% before climbing back to new highs.
“Just like with Bitcoin ETFs, it will take time for inflows into ETH ETFs to create a supply shock large enough to move the market significantly,” said Ben Kurland, CEO of cryptocurrency research platform DYOR.
He added that President Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw from the presidential race has created uncertainty in the markets.
“Investor [are] Wait for more concrete developments [Vice President Kamala] “On Harris, her stance on cryptocurrency and the likelihood of her regaining ground in the polls,” he said.
Trenchev agrees.
“Bitcoin’s decline from its recent highs reflects the sudden entry of Kamala Harris into the US presidential race, adding uncertainty to a race that is tilting in favor of Donald Trump and his new pro-crypto stance,” he said.
