Since Bitcoin (BTC) witnessed a crash this week to $64,000, the crypto asset has not been able to reclaim its momentum, with the price falling even lower. This has led to a general market decline that has affected altcoins.
Bitcoin Plummets To $8,900 On BitMEX Exchange
In a devastating turn of events, Bitcoin witnessed a steep decline on the Seycelles-based cryptocurrency exchange BitMEX on Monday. Reports from blockchain media, Wu Blockchain, revealed that Bitcoin fell to around $8,900, following a massive BTC sell-off on the platform.
Wu Blockchain reported that a user sold over 400 BTC, which led to the price of Bitcoin falling to the aforementioned figure. Over the space of two hours, the unidentified user sold the 400 BTC in groups of 10–50 BTC.
Consequently, BitMEX’s market stability was impacted since the user sold the assets for incredibly low prices. However, according to reports from Blockchain Daily, the event was short-lived as prices have now returned to the normal level.
In response to the development, BitMEX has assured the crypto community that it is “looking into odd behavior” involving users selling substantial orders on the spot market for BTC-USDT.
The crypto platform further stated that while the investigation is ongoing, “the derivatives market will still be operational, including the index price for its popular XBT derivatives contracts.” Furthermore, the exchange confirmed the safety of users’ funds and assets, and the platform is “running as usual.”
Given that the price of Bitcoin was situated at $68,000 before the incident, the drop indicates an over 87% decline. After falling to $8,900, Bitcoin recovered, but the abnormal price fluctuations lasted for an additional 30 minutes before things returned completely to normal.
The development has since stirred quite a frenzy within the cryptocurrency landscape, leaving the community to ponder on the reason behind the drop. Several crypto enthusiasts believe that the incident was a move orchestrated by BitMEX to manipulate prices to liquidate investors and end up making a lot of money.
Larger Crash Might Take Place
As Bitcoin continues to move downward, Gold advocate and crypto critic Peter Schiff has forecasted a larger crash for prices. At first, Peter Schiff drew the crypto community’s attention to the 2021 rally, in which BTC peaked at $69,000.
However, the largest cryptocurrency witnessed a collapse the next year, and by November 2022, it was already trading at $16,000. As a result, Schiff mocked Bitcoin enthusiasts, asking, “How many of them still have their laser eyes on their profiles.”
Thus, considering that the majority are presently more optimistic about BTC, Schiff anticipates a “bigger crash” is probably on the horizon.
As of the time of writing, the price of Bitcoin was trading at $62,943, indicating an over 7% decline in the past 24 hours. Its market cap is down more than 7%, while its trading volume holds steady increasing by 63% in the past day.
Featured image from iStock, chart from Tradingview.com
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