The price of Bitcoin (BTC) briefly fell below $41,000 at 2:15 a.m. UTC on December 11, after suddenly dropping 6.5% from $43,357 to as low as $40,659 in 20 minutes was.
At the time of publication, Bitcoin was trading slightly above the local low of $41,960, according to TradingView data.
Bitcoin briefly fell 6.5% to $40,659 before settling just below $42,000. Source: TradingView
Ether (ETH), the second largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, also experienced an abrupt decline, falling by more than 8.9% over the same period. The price of ETH has since stabilized and is trading at $2,233, down 5.3% on the day.
Other major crypto assets including Binance Coin (BNB), Ripple (XRP) and Solana (SOL) also posted losses.
According to data from CoinGlass, the brief decline resulted in more than $270 million worth of long positions being liquidated. The decline also wiped out about $1.2 billion in open interest for BTC and currently stands at about $17.9 billion.
The sudden decline saw more than $270 million worth of BTClong positions liquidated. Source: CoinGlass
The drop came, oddly enough, just minutes after Wolf of All Street's Scott Melker noted that Bitcoin had just closed its 8th green weekly candle, adding the remark: “Correction when, sir?”
#Bitcoin I just closed, it's the 8th green weekly candle in a row.
This week's candle was a monster.
When correction, sir? pic.twitter.com/xxWjTxxLLr
– The Wolf of All Streets (@scottmelker) December 11, 2023
The drop represents Bitcoin's biggest single-day decline in over a month, with the asset growing by more than 12% in the last 30 days.
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However, Bitcoin is up more than 150% since January 1st this year. The bullish trend was primarily driven by expectations that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will approve several spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), allowing large institutions to gain significant exposure to the asset for the first time.
Also contributing to the Bitcoin rally was the general market expectation that the US Federal Reserve will begin cutting interest rates in the middle of next year.
Investors are also preparing for the next round of inflation data as well as the final FOMC meeting this year, with most analysts expecting core inflation to improve and betting that the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates at their current levels.
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