Cryptocurrency derivatives exchange BitMEX faced a momentary drop in the Bitcoin spot price on its platform, leading to an investigation into unusual activity.
Users reported an anomaly in BitMEX’s BTC/Tether spot market, causing Bitcoin prices to briefly plummet to around $8,900 at approximately 1 am UTC. The drop was attributed to an unknown entity selling over 400 BTC in a short period.
We are investigating unusual activity in the past few hours involving a user selling large orders on our BTC-USDT Spot Market.
— BitMEX (@BitMEX) March 19, 2024
This does not affect any of our derivative markets, nor the index price for our popular XBT derivatives contracts.
The trading platform is operating…
BitMEX confirmed the large sell order on the BTC/USDT spot market and initiated an internal investigation. However, the exchange assured users that its derivatives markets and the prices of XBT derivatives contracts were not affected by the incident.
Crypto researcher Syq revealed that the whale sold approximately 400 BTC in batches of 10–50 BTC over two hours. BitMEX reportedly disabled withdrawals from some accounts as part of the investigation, although it clarified that this action only affected a few accounts and not all users.
Now @BitMEX have disabled withdrawals pic.twitter.com/IvEq7t0Fp2
— syq (@syq) March 19, 2024
BitMEX emphasized that its trading platform is operating normally, and all funds are safe. The exchange has yet to respond to requests for comment from Cointelegraph.
This incident underscores the potential impact of large sell orders on cryptocurrency markets, highlighting the need for robust risk management strategies by exchanges and traders alike.
