Overnight, something happened that many Bitcoin (BTC) bulls were not predicting: the digital currency crashed over 14% with just over a day remaining before the next halving.
The explanation behind the crash looks fairly clear, as far too many investors were overleveraged to the long side in anticipation of breakaway price action with the upcoming event. However, the $10,000 psychological level held its ground.
In a matter of minutes on Saturday, Bitcoin dumped from around $9,600 to as low as $8,200 on some trading platforms.
As a result, margin traders on the popular derivative trading platform BitMEX saw more than $275 million in liquidations while retail investors on Coinbase were unable to sell their positions as the website and app went down for an extended period during the dump.
Coinbase is down.
— Pomp ?? (@APompliano) May 10, 2020
Coinbase’s recent downtime has prompted two competing US-based platforms, Binance.US and commission-free Voyager, to promote their apps in an effort to poach frustrated users.
While COINBASE gave no explanation for the downtime, the popular exchange is undoubtedly working behind the scenes to beef up its system for what will likely be an even more volatile week for the crypto market.
More: $275 Million: Bitcoin Traders Face Mass Liquidation Following Latest Selloff
Related: 3 Reasons for the Bitcoin Price ‘Halving Dump’ From $10K to $8.1K
Image: Hektor Ehring Jeppesen / Flickr
Disclaimer: This article’s author has cryptocurrency holdings that can be tracked here. This article is for informational purposes only and should not be taken as investment advice. Always conduct your own due diligence before making investments.
