Bitcoin Falls to $59k as Mt. Gox Set to Distribute $9Bn

Bitcoin Falls to $59k as Mt. Gox Set to Distribute $9Bn

Starting in July, the defunct Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox will begin distributing approximately $9 billion in BTC and Bitcoin Cash to creditors. This repayment follows updates in April to the trustee's claims system and the movement of $2.9 billion in Bitcoin in May. The news contributed to a 8% drop in Bitcoin’s price, falling to around $59,100.

Mt. Gox, once the largest Bitcoin exchange, collapsed in 2014 after losing 850,000 BTC in a security breach. By October, creditors are expected to receive 142,000 Bitcoin, 143,000 Bitcoin Cash, and 69 billion Japanese yen. Additionally, selling pressure from Bitcoin miners and the German government led to yesterday's dip and negativity on social media.

‍

Blast Announces Foundation Governance Ahead of Airdrop

Blast, an Ethereum Layer 2 network announced the formation of a foundation to govern its protocol. This transition was revealed ahead of the upcoming token airdrop. The Blast airdrop will allocate half of the tokens to developers through Blast Gold and the other half to early users based on wallet and dapp balances via Blast Points.

Previously managed by Arcade Research, Blast's development company, the protocol's governance, website, and social media are now under the foundation's control. The foundation aims to support the community in achieving Blast's vision, to be shared on June 26. Tieshun Roquerre, the Blur NFT marketplace's founder, developed Blast.

‍

The US and Europe Give Major Updates on CBDCs

The US and Europe recently provided important updates on central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). Louisiana amended its legislation to ban the use of CBDCs within the state, prohibiting participation in tests and acceptance of payments using CBDCs, while imposing strict controls on foreign-owned digital asset mining operations, effective August 2024.

Meanwhile, the European Central Bank (ECB) released its first progress report on developing a CBDC, emphasizing privacy measures like pseudonymization and encryption, and requiring explicit consent for using consumer financial data. The ECB also outlined methods for offline transactions and aims to finalize the technical and regulatory framework by the end of 2024.

‍

Tether to Stop Minting USDT Stablecoin on EOS and Algorand

Tether announced it will stop minting USDT on the Algorand and EOS blockchains to focus on networks with more active communities. Despite halting new issuances, Tether will allow token redemptions on these blockchains for at least the next year. This decision follows a thorough assessment of each blockchain's performance and community engagement.

Tether emphasized a smooth transition with minimal disruption, reinforcing its commitment to security and innovation. Previously, Tether had ceased USDT issuance on Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, and Kusama for similar reasons, and currently supports about 11 other blockchains including Ethereum, Tron, Near, Celo, Polkadot, Solana, Ton, and Tezos.

‍

Data of the day

On June 17, ZKsync's highly anticipated ZK token launched with a market capitalization exceeding $1 billion, which quickly dropped to around $600 million due to selling pressure and poor market conditions. The launch caused a surge in new unique addresses on the Zsync Era chain, more than doubling to 18,000 on launch day and peaking at 35,800 two days later.

The network also saw a three-month high in transactions with over 1.8 million on the launch day, but activity quickly plummeted by 37% the next day and continued to decline. Similarly, the number of active addresses hit an all-time high on launch day but halved within three days, indicating the spike was driven by dormant addresses claiming their airdrops.

‍

More breaking news

• Metaplanet, a Japanese investment firm, saw its stock price jump over 12% on Monday after announcing that will purchase Bitcoin worth 1 billion yen ($6.26 million).
• Billionaire Mark Cuban has sold 12+ NFTs including a Pudgy Penguin for more than $30,000, according to one of his OpenSea wallets.
• Russell Brand, a famous actor and comedian, will speak at the world's largest Bitcoin conference next month in Nashville, USA.
• Kanav Kariya, the president of Jump Crypto, has stepped down from his position after six years of service, two days after the CFTC began investigating Jump.
• The Biden administration has rehired its former cryptocurrency adviser Carole House, who has been moderately supportive of crypto but calls for stronger law enforcement.

For the latest updates on digital asset markets, follow us on X @Datawalletcom.