SYDNEY – fell one month to a low of $1.01 on Friday. It was heading for its worst six-months. The decline came as traders booked their profits in a prolonged rally but were scared by the prospect that Mt Gox’s creditors would liquidate their money.

By mid-session Asia in bitcoin, which is the most valuable cryptocurrency according to market value was 1.6% lower at $55,980, its lowest level since mid October and 20% less than last week’s record high.

Matthew Dibb is chief operating officer of Stack Funds in Singapore, a crypto asset manager. He expects that the selling pressure will continue to be constant until the token gains support for $53,000.

The bitcoin price has declined 14% in the last week. This is despite it being below its 50-day moving median. This year, it has risen by more than 90%.

Dibb claimed there had been profit-taking and concern over more selling after a Tokyo court approved plans to pay creditors of Mt Gox. The crypto exchange, which lost half of a billion in bitcoin in 2014, collapsed.

A large bitcoin payment will likely be made to those affected in the first quarter of 2022. He said that this has caused some market fear on a long-term horizon, based on the assumption that these creditors will likely sell.

Ether (the second most valuable cryptocurrency according to market value) was stable at $4,014 for Friday. However, it set for a 14% weekly decline.

Both bitcoin and ether have also suffered from the cautious mood on global markets in recent days, amid worries about economic growth and interest rates. [MKTS/GLOB]

Edward Moya from OANDA said, “Bitcoin’s outlook for the long term remains bullish.”

The waters will not be easy for institutional investors over the coming months as they wait to see if Fed raises rates faster and causes a wide-based sale of bitcoin risky assets.