The Currency analytics
By Bruce Buterin
Bitcoin took a beating Tuesday. The cryptocurrency plunged from recent highs around $45,000 to hover near $38,000 by February 27, catching traders off guard and sparking fresh…
Turns out it wasn't some coordinated attack by big exchanges after all. Sources close to major trading desks say the selloff came from widespread position unwinding as individual…
Market watchers say automatic triggers kicked in once Bitcoin hit certain price levels, creating a cascade effect that made the drop way worse than it needed to be.
"We saw massive outflows starting around 2 PM Eastern," said one trader at a major crypto desk who didn't want to be named. "It wasn't coordinated selling from institutions.
Bitcoin's notorious for these kinds of moves, but this one felt different. The cryptocurrency had been climbing steadily through February, hitting peaks above $45,000 just days…
MicroStrategy didn't get the memo, apparently. Michael Saylor's company bought another 5,000 Bitcoin on February 25 - right before the selloff began.
But the timing's pretty wild when you think about it. While everyone else was running for the hills, MicroStrategy was backing up the truck.
Coinbase saw trading volume spike during the chaos, which makes sense. Retail investors love to panic-trade during these kinds of events.
Elon Musk chimed in on social media Tuesday night, reminding people that crypto's inherently risky.
The SEC issued one of their standard "we're watching" statements on February 26. They didn't announce any new actions, but the timing wasn't coincidental.
Things might get more interesting next week. The Federal Reserve meets March 1, and traders are already positioning for whatever Jerome Powell might say about monetary policy.
The Bitcoin Fear & Greed Index swung hard into "extreme fear" territory, which isn't surprising given the price action.
Neither Jane Street nor Binance responded to requests for comment about their alleged involvement in the selloff.
Market participants are still trying to figure out what comes next. Some see this as a healthy correction after Bitcoin's recent run-up.
Bitcoin closed Wednesday trading around $38,200, still down roughly 15% from its February highs.