A sudden plummet in bitcoin’s price on BitMEX saw it drop to $8,900, attributed to large sell orders totaling $55.49 million. The crash, occurring late Monday, was brief but significant.
BitMEX, in response to the price plunge on its XBT/USD spot market, stated that it is investigating the origins of the substantial sell orders that led to the flash crash.
Bitcoin’s unexpected nosedive occurred around 22:40 UTC, with prices plummeting to $8,900 within a span of two minutes, marking its lowest point since early 2020 as per TradingView data. However, the recovery was equally swift, with prices bouncing back to $67,000 by 22:50 UTC. Throughout this volatile episode on BitMEX, the global average price of BTC remained around $67,400.
Social media discussions suggested that whale selling instigated the crash. According to @syq, an individual sold over 850 BTC ($55.49 million) on BitMEX, causing the XBT/USDT spot pair to plummet to $8,900. It’s worth noting that BitMEX’s billion-dollar derivatives markets remained unaffected by the crash.
Following the incident, BitMEX announced on social media that it has initiated an investigation into the substantial sell orders. The platform emphasized that despite the unusual activity, all systems were functioning normally, and user funds remained secure. However, BitMEX refrained from commenting on specific user behavior or actions taken, continuing its investigation into the matter.
