A massive sell off triggered a flash crash on BitMex, pushing Bitcoin price below $8,900. BitMEX temporarily disable withdrawals citing a spot issue and assuring users that funds are safe.
The crash appears to be caused by single user selling almost 1000 BTC over multiple hours.
The volatile Bitcoin market experience a jolt today as the price of BTC briefly plummeted to below $8,900 on BitMEX crypto exchange.
This flash crash was triggered by colossal sell off highlighting impact mega trades on market.
BitMEX Reply to the Incident
BitMEX acknowledged the incident in a post on X account, identifying it as spot issue and taking precaution step of temporarily disabling withdrawals for its users.
The exchange also reassured users that funds remained safe and incident does not effect its derivatives market or index price for its XBT contracts.
The flash crash on BitMEX serve as stark reminder of the risks with crypto trading. This incident is like to be monitored by market analyst and regulators as they assess the stability of crypto exchanges.
As crypto industry matures addressing such building robust and risk safeguards will be good for long term success.
What is the reason the BTC Price Crash?
The complete details are unavailable but reports show that single user may have initiated the flash crash by market selling 1000 BTC over 3.5 hours.
The sale of more than 400 BTC alone is estimated to have resulted in loss of $4 million for seller after triggering the mega dump in BTC price.
The incident sent shockwaves through the broader crypto market. Bitcoin has recovered to around $64,900 the flash crash highlights the volatility of cryptocurrencies.
Altcoins were not safe from dump.
Mega sudden trade as one made by BitMEX user can certainly trigger price swings on exchanges with lower liquidity.
Mega sell orders value $55.49 million drove bitcoins price fall to $899 on BitMex. The overnight crash was short lived. Prices on other exchanges held above $60,000.
The slide start at 22:40 UTC and with 2 minutes price down to $899 the lowest since 2020 according to data from charting platform Trading views. The recovery was rapid with prices rebounding to $67,000 by 22.50 UTC.
BTC global average price was around $67,400 through out the boom period.
The BitMEX XBT index tracks bitcoin price while the XBT/USDT pair show bitcoin tether denominated price. Tether is world leading dollar pegged stablecoin.