The price of the world's largest cryptocurrency plunged below $55,000 over the weekend, as bitcoin faced downward pressure from the German government selling a large volume of bitcoin at once, as well as the ongoing repayment of bitcoin to creditors of Mt. Gox, once the largest bitcoin exchange in the world. A decade after the hacked crypto exchange's collapse, creditors are finally receiving their long-delayed funds, but the high-profile transfer of bitcoin is sending reverberations across crypto markets.

On July 5, the exchange said that users seeking repayment would need to undergo account verification and subscribe to a “designated” crypto exchange. “We ask eligible rehabilitation creditors to wait for a while,” Mt. Gox said in a Friday statement.

On Thursday, Mt. Gox transferred nearly $2.71 billion of bitcoin, or 47,228.7 BTC.

At its apex, the crypto exchange Mt. Gox processed up to 80% of the world’s bitcoin trades. Today, at least 127,000 Mt. Gox users are awaiting crypto funds from the Mt. Gox bankruptcy estate to be restored to their wallets.

Meanwhile, in Germany, the government's decision to sell a large trove of bitcoin has earned it withering criticism from German parliamentarian Joana Cotar, who accused Berlin of “hastily” offloading its bitcoin.

“Instead of holding bitcoin as a strategic reserve currency, as is already being debated in the USA, our government is selling on a large scale,” Cotar said, adding that she had counseled the government on why doing so was not sensible policy.

On Friday, bitcoin’s price sank below $55,000, representing an approximately 6% dip for the world's leading cryptocurrency. The globe's leading token hit $54,600, and is now languishing at $55,243, at the time of writing, while ethereum’s is sitting at $2,904.