Bitcoin, the flagship cryptocurrency, saw a sharp drop to an intraday low of $23,636 at 12:06 p.m. UTC on the Bitstamp exchange.
The sudden drop caught some traders off guard. "Did someone just tie some weights to Bitcoin's feet and throw it in the East River?" prominent chartist Scott Melker quipped.
Meanwhile, notorious crypto commentator Ran Neuner suggested that the dip was actually caused by a string of liquidations on Binance Australia, a subsidiary of the crypto giant. He then noted that the bearish price action was not systemic to the market, predicting that Bitcoin would rebound fast.
Earlier today, Binance suddenly closed the derivative positions of some Australian traders after incorrectly tagging them as "wholesale investors."
Alex Dovbnya"Following a review of the onboarding process for Binance Australia Derivatives, some users were identified to have incorrectly been classified as Wholesale Investors. We have taken proactive measures to notify the affected individuals whose access to certain products may be restricted to help make sure any transition is as smooth as possible," the exchange said.
The exchange has announced that all affected users will be compensated after the most recent incident.
At press time, Bitcoin has already managed to pare some of its losses, returning back to the $24,200 level. The strength of the U.S. stock market is playing in its favor. On Thursday, stock futures spiked higher. Nasdaq-100 futures, which are closely correlated with Bitcoin, jumped 0.9%.
Yuri Molchan
Denys Serhiichuk
Dan Burgin
Vladislav Sopov