Investing.com — Bitcoin price fell on Wednesday, extending losses seen earlier in the week, as traders remained largely averse to the token amid concerns that distributions from the defunct Mt Gox exchange will trigger a sell-off of the token.
Sentiment towards broader cryptocurrency markets also remained gloomy amid uncertainty over US interest rates, with a recent drop in the dollar doing little to deter weakness in the sector.
Bitcoin price fell 3.3% over the past 24 hours to $60,976.6 as of 01:14 ET (05:14 GMT). The world's largest cryptocurrency suffered heavy losses during June and remained within a trading range established since March.
Bitcoin sees little relief as Mt Gox fears reign
Traders were largely on edge ahead of Mt Gox's distributions. The exchange's liquidators said they would begin returning to customers bitcoins stolen during a 2014 hack in early July.
The exchange was noted to have moved around $9 billion worth of Bitcoin earlier this year, though it was unclear how much the planned distributions will entail.
Traders speculated that recipients of the tokens would be largely inclined to sell them, given that Bitcoin experienced massive price gains over the past decade. Such a scenario presents prolonged selling pressure on Bitcoin.
Speculations about dumping activities by other entities also affected Bitcoin. The German government was seen dumping Bitcoin recovered from a hacking website, while some whales were also seen moving Bitcoin around this week.
But even before fears over Mt Gox began to impact Bitcoin prices, sentiment towards cryptocurrencies was largely cooling as the token remained range-bound for over three months.
Capital flows data showed that trading volumes of cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds, particularly Bitcoin, have fallen sharply in recent months.
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Cryptocurrency prices generally retreated, receiving little support from the dollar's overnight decline.
The world's No. 2 token fell 2.8% to $3,360.84, with sentiment toward the token remaining weak even as reports suggest an Ether spot ETF could be approved this week.
and moved in a narrow range, as did the meme tokens and .
Cryptocurrencies saw little gains even as Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell signaled progress toward reducing inflation, weighing on the dollar.
But Powell warned that the Fed still needs more confidence to begin cutting interest rates.
His comments came ahead of more key U.S. interest rate signals. The results of the Federal Reserve's June meeting are due on Wednesday, and several Fed officials are also scheduled to speak.
Beyond the Fed, data will be released on Friday.
