Bitcoin plummeted 10% in 30 minutes, and nearly 20% in the last few hours, falling below $8.000 on some exchanges. Just two days before the anticipated Bitcoin Halving event and no more than 48 hours after reaching the $10 mark , a classic "sell on the news" dump began.
As of this writing, the price of Bitcoin has corrected a bit and is currently trading around $ 8.500, which is a 12% drop in the last 24 hours. While the current daily Bitcoin low on Bitstamp was $ 8.117, the Binance Futures platform saw a more pronounced collapse at $ 7.940. Volatility had also hit altcoins, while Ethereum saw a similar 12% drop, dropping below $ 200 at a current price of $ 186. Total market capitalization fell to $ 235 billion in the last hours.
[amazon box="B07B8Q2G3K"]Bitcoin, volatility and Halving
Bitcoin's volatility has been accompanied by unprecedented liquidations on the leading derivatives exchange, BitMEX. Data by Skew shows that approximately $200 million in long positions were liquidated in the short span of 25 minutes around 00:30 UTC, bringing down the price of Bitcoin by 15%.
Just two days ago, Bitcoin topped $ 10.000, leading to an opposite sell-off of roughly $ 23 million in short BitMEX positions in less than four hours. However, since this notable 20% drop, the asset price has recovered slightly and is currently trading at $ 8.850.
In just two days, possibly the most anticipated event in the community this year is scheduled to take place. In addition to halving the rewards miners receive for their efforts to 6.25 BTC per block, Bitcoin's Halving generally also serves as a catalyst for vigorous price developments.
Looking at historical data, the digital asset went through something pretty similar almost four years ago. Initially, BTC rose by more than 70% in the weeks leading up to the second Halving, which took place on July 9, 2016. However, two days before the event, on July 7, Bitcoin marked a drop of 11%. On a violent trading day, the price plunged from $ 678 to $ 604, before recovering to $ 640.
