Bitcoin Falls to 69K as NonFarm Payrolls Disappoint Will Mt Gox Proceed with Creditor Distribution Again
After experiencing a sharp decline on Thursday, the three major U.S. stock indices rebounded on Friday. The non-farm payroll data came in unexpectedly low, leading the market to estimate that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates by a quarter point next week. The upcoming U.S. presidential election has also added more uncertainty to the market.
Non-farm data disappoints, will the Federal Reserve definitely cut rates next week?
The non-farm employment data for October released on Friday was disappointing, with an increase of only 12,000 jobs, significantly lower than the market estimate of 100,000 and marking the smallest increase since December 2020, impacted by recent hurricanes and strike activities. According to the CME FedWatch Index, traders widely expect the Federal Reserve to cut rates by a quarter point at its rate decision meeting on November 7.
Bitcoin falls back to 69K, is Mt. Gox redistributing to creditors again?
Bitcoin attempted to challenge its historical high at the end of October, briefly reaching $73,620, just a step away from this year’s peak of $73,777. According to a tweet from on-chain data company Arkham, the once-largest cryptocurrency exchange, Mt. Gox, sent 500 bitcoins worth approximately $35 million to two unmarked wallets last night. This marks Mt. Gox’s first transfer since September and has raised concerns about selling pressure on Bitcoin in the market.
As the wallets are unmarked, it is currently unclear whether these transfers are part of future distributions to Mt. Gox creditors. Nevertheless, past actions of this nature typically occurred before repayments via cryptocurrency exchanges like Bitstamp and Kraken. According to Arkham data, Mt. Gox still holds 44,878 bitcoins, valued at over $3.1 billion. However, in mid-October, Mt. Gox postponed the deadline for repaying assets to creditors from the originally scheduled October 31, 2024, to October 31, 2025.
Key events next week
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (BRK) will release its earnings report on Saturday.
The U.S. presidential election is approaching on November 5, with current polls showing a tug-of-war. Analysts believe that if the election results become stalemated, the outcome may be delayed until after the Federal Reserve meeting, adding more uncertainty to the market.
The once-popular AI stock, Supermicro (SMCI), will also announce its earnings on November 5. Ernst & Young, the firm responsible for its audit, recently announced its resignation, leading to a 45% drop in the company’s stock price last week.
The Federal Reserve will announce its rate decision on November 7, having significantly cut rates by two points in September, marking the first rate cut since the outbreak of the pandemic. The market generally expects the Federal Reserve to maintain a gradual pace of rate cuts, guiding the U.S. towards a soft landing or even no landing.
