This week in coins: Bitcoin’s bad week sinks the crypto fleet

Ten years later, the Mt. Gox bankruptcy, Bitcoin distributions have officially begun – and the crypto market is in a frenzy.

On Friday, the price of Bitcoin fell as low as $53,898, the lowest price since February, according to CoinGecko. That's a 27% drop from the all-time high of $73,700 set in March, and the highest domestic return since the property's November 2022 low of $15,500.

Although the price of Bitcoin fell quickly after the exchange announced that it had launched its distribution, on-chain data suggests that the pullback is more narrative-driven than event-driven.

“M. Gox wallets continue to hold a total of 138,985 BTC ($7.52B),” blockchain data platform Arkham Intelligence tweeted on Friday. That means only 2,701 BTC left the exchange's wallet for payout – and only a fraction of those coins may have been sold by recipients.

Indeed, the bearish narrative around Mount Gox is so strong that even altcoins are completely unrelated to the exchange.

While BTC recovered slightly to $56,372 – a 7% drop in seven days – Ethereum slipped and closed the week at $2,989 for a 12% weekly decline. This confirms that MT Gox and German Bitcoin are top concerns in crypto, despite the bullish narrative surrounding the Ethereum spot EFAs, which are expected to go live next week.

The top 10 cryptocurrencies by market cap all ended the week in the red, excluding stable science.

So what's the catch? Solana, which is down just 4% this week, is actually up 3% in the last 24 hours. The asset could be next to get the digital asset ETF treatment, with industry watchers suggesting this could happen after the US federal election, which could see crypto's arch-nemesis Gary Gensler lose his position at the SEC.

Speaking of the election, Solana-based political meme coinage has gone on a rollercoaster ride this week around speculation that President Joe Biden might replace him as the Democratic nominee.

The Joe Boden (BODEN) meme coin fell 43% on the week, partially recovering after Biden vowed not to drop out of the race. Regardless, Kamala Harris (KAMA)—the coin based on the vice president—is still up 326% as crypto bettors briefly backed Kamala Harris to replace Joe Biden. The president overturned his deputy yesterday.

The enduring appeal of meme coins has also, unfortunately, been exploited by fraudsters. Earlier this week, the $SMASH token—a meme coin inspired by UFC star Kamzat Chimeev—decreased to zero immediately after the fighter promoted it on social media, with traces on the chain pointing to a botched pump and dump.

Edited by Ryan Ozawa.