Bitcoin price plunges to $8.9K as BitMEX whale triggers massive BTC sell-off

BitMEX, a cryptocurrency derivatives exchange, has launched an investigation into “unusual activity” following reports from users of a temporary drop in the price of Bitcoin on its platform. The incident occurred at approximately 1 am UTC when users noticed an anomaly in BitMEX’s BTC/Tether spot market, causing Bitcoin prices to briefly plummet to around $8,900.
It has been revealed that an unidentified entity sold more than 400 BTC within a short timeframe. BitMEX acknowledged the significant sell order on the BTC/USDT spot market and initiated an internal investigation into the matter.
BitMEX has clarified that its derivatives markets and the prices of its XBT derivatives contracts were unaffected by the price fluctuation.
A crypto researcher known as Syq disclosed that the unknown entity sold batches of 10-50 BTC over a period of two hours, amounting to a total of over 400 BTC. Syq also mentioned that BitMEX had restricted withdrawals from certain accounts.
In response to the blocked accounts, BitMEX assured users that its trading platform is functioning normally and that all funds are secure.
Despite these developments, BitMEX has yet to respond to Cointelegraph’s request for comment.
In a related matter, the former CEO of BitMEX, Arthur Hayes, expressed concerns that spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) could potentially “completely destroy” Bitcoin if they achieve excessive success. Hayes explained that if Bitcoin ETF issuers hold all the BTC, it would negatively impact the number of transactions on the Bitcoin network, leading to a loss of incentive for miners to validate transactions. This, in turn, could result in miners shutting down their operations due to the inability to cover energy costs, ultimately causing the network to collapse and Bitcoin to disappear.
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