Bitcoin Slumps 7% As Crypto Crash Triggers $588 Million Liquidations Amid Mt. Gox Selloff Fears

Bitcoin Plunges as Crypto Crash Triggers Liquidations and Mt. Gox Fears

Bitcoin experienced a sharp decline of over 7% within 24 hours as the latest cryptocurrency crash caused liquidations amounting to over $588 million, fueled by concerns over a potential Mt. Gox sell-off.

At 2:25 a.m. EST, BTC dropped below the $55,000 mark, trading at $54,269.58. The digital asset market witnessed a significant sell-off, with its overall market capitalization plummeting by 8% to below $2 trillion.

Massive Liquidations Unprecedented Since FTX Collapse

Data from CoinGlass reveals that over $588 million in long positions were liquidated in the past 24 hours. Short positions also faced liquidation, totaling $93 million over the same period.

A substantial portion of these liquidations occurred within the last 12 hours, constituting the largest market hit since the fall of FTX. Michaël van de Poppe, a prominent crypto trader, advised his 722,800 followers to avoid panic selling in a July 5 post on Twitter.

Mt. Gox Transfer Triggers Crash Concerns

The latest crypto crash was partly attributed to the defunct Mt. Gox exchange, as on-chain analytics platform Lookonchain reported a $2.71 billion BTC transfer from its cold storage wallets. Fears emerged that these repayments could lead to a significant sell-off of BTC.

Meme Coins Witness Heavy Losses

Meme coins faced a severe impact, with Dogecoin (DOGE), Shiba Inu (SHIB), Pepe (PEPE), Dogwifhat (WIF), and Bonk (BONK) experiencing double-digit percentage losses.

DOGE and SHIB declined by over 15% and 14%, respectively. Frog-themed PEPE and Solana meme coin WIF also dropped by 15% and 11%, while BONK traded at $0.00001956 after losing 11% of its value.

Presale Tokens Offer Shelter Amid Market Volatility

With the uncertainty surrounding Mt. Gox repayments, investors may seek shelter in presale tokens that are not yet subject to the open market's fluctuations.

Some analysts are highlighting layer-2 Pepe Unchained (PEPU), which has raised over $2.3 million in under three weeks, as well as Tamagotchi remake PlayDoge (PLAY), which has secured $5.3 million for its Play-To-Earn meme coin project. WienerAI (WAI), an AI meme coin, has also attracted $7 million in funding.