A wild day on crypto exchanges is being blamed on a raft of glitches and reports of a big sale that at least one analyst credited for contributing to the downward pressure on digital-asset prices.
Temporary technical trading issues were reported by users of exchanges from Coinbase Global
COIN,
the largest U.S. crypto-trading platform, to Hong Kong-based Bitfinex and FTX, as well as rival platforms Gemini and Kraken.
On top of that, an analyst pointed to the big sale of some $44 million in bitcoin on Seychelles-based cryptocurrency exchange Huobi as amplifying the slump on Tuesday, as many traditional investors in the U.S. returned from a three-day holiday.
via Naeem Aslam
Traditional stock indexes, such as the Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
and the S&P 500 index
SPX,
and bond markets were closed Monday in observance of Labor Day, but the crypto market never sleeps.
Against that backdrop, bitcoin
BTCUSD,
Ether
ETHUSD,
on the Ethereum blockchain and meme asset dogecoin
DOGEUSD,
declined sharply, but recovered somewhat as brave investors bought into the slump.
Even by crypto’s whipsawing standards, Tuesday’s action was a bit unsettling for digital-asset bulls.
“Bitcoin price [was] being hammered…but if you look at the price action more closely you can see that traders have actually bought the dip as the price has bounced near its 50-day [simple moving average],” wrote Naeem Aslam, chief analyst at AvaTrade, in a daily note.
“At the same time, it is important to note that crypto exchanges like Bitfinex have turned off their platforms, possibly crashed, and this is certainly a concern for investors,” the analyst wrote.
At last check, bitcoin was changing hands at $46,920.19, down nearly 10%, while Ether was trading at $3,414.49, off by nearly 14% on CoinDesk.
This post was originally published on Market Watch
