SINGAPORE: Bitcoin was set for its biggest weekly fall in more than a year on Friday, as traders fretted over the likely dumping of tokens from defunct Japanese exchange Mt Gox and further selling by leveraged players after the cryptocurrency’s strong run.

The price of the world’s largest cryptocurrency slid as much as eight per cent on the day to $53,523, its lowest since late February.

It was on track for a more than 12 per cent weekly decline, its biggest since Nov 2022.

Rival token Ether slid nine per cent to $2,841 to more than a two-month low.

Media reports said Mt Gox, the world’s leading exchange for cryptocurrencies before it collapsed a decade ago, may start returning bitcoin to creditors, who are seen as likely sellers since the token’s worth was only hundreds of dollars in 2014.

“The selling pressure is still related to creditor selling from the failed Mt Gox exchange,” said Tony Sycamore, a market analyst at IG.

“However, the acceleration to the downside suggests the market is trying to get ahead of the creditor flows.” Analysts have also pointed to worries over the possibility of Joe Biden being replaced as the Democrats’ presidential nominee by someone less pro-crypto after a shaky debate performance with Donald Trump.

Published in Dawn, July 6th, 2024