Bitcoin (BTC) Goes Through Flash Crash, Threatens to Break Below $7,000

Bitcoin (BTC) proved it is vulnerable to accelerated selling after the market price crashed within minutes on September 5. BTC traded at $7,382.21 as of 10:30 UTC, and less than an hour later the landslide selling continued, taking BTC down to $7,030.59.

The fact that BTC quickly lost support immediately caused social media reactions, especially for those still bearish on BTC and who do not believe a rally will come any time soon.

https://twitter.com/crypto_bobby/status/1037278937905278976

The dramatic red candle of selling caused a drop of around $140, not unseen for BTC price movements. However, the sudden nature of the move suggested BTC prices are vulnerable, especially given the relatively large volume of selling.

What is even more worrying, is that the price drop comes just days after a large whale wallet was moving funds to Bitfinex and Binance. The wallet, which was initially suspected of belonging to a Silk Road related user, is, based on another theory of the user sick_silk, a Bitcoin stash related to the Mt. Gox exchange. In any case, more than 11,000 BTC moved into Bitfinex, potentially tanking the price.

The readiness to sell those significant funds caused fears of an upcoming sell-off, although it is not possible to determine which wallet placed the order, as the coins in question are already mixed into the exchange wallet.

The recent price drop is also revealing a price anomaly. BTC prices sank to $7,001 on Bitfinex, the most active exchange for BTC where the price is determined in dollar-like terms, by trading against Tether (USDT).

For other exchanges like BitForex and Bitmex, the price already tanked below the $7,000 level, and newly added market Iquant saw prices slide to $6,900. Those exchanges are excluded from volume calculations on CoinMarketCap, due to indications for faked volumes. Overall, various exchanges saw a disparity of up to $200 for BTC prices.

At the time of writing, the share of the BTC/USDT pair was more than 51% of the overall market. In the past days, the weight of USDT trading was closer to 60%. Now, the share of USD trading has also increased, up to 26% from below 20% a day ago.

Neither the author nor the publication assumes any responsibility or liability for any investments, profits, or losses made as a result of this information. Cryptocurrency trading and investing are risky propositions, and market participants are advised to always conduct thorough research.