Reports have disclosed that a single large sale helped set off the cascade. Selling pressure intensified as a large holder offloaded 24,000 BTC, triggering a wave of liquidations, said Rachael Lucas, a crypto analyst at BTC Markets.
On Coinbase, Bitcoin briefly fell below $109,000 — its weakest level since July 9. Market participants felt the shock fast; traders who were long were the ones most exposed.
Since August 14, when Bitcoin reached an all-time high just over $124,000, the asset has corrected by over 10%. Based on data, the drop since Powell’s speech is about 7%.
The single-day move was measured at close to 3% decline for Bitcoin, and total crypto market value slipped back below $4 trillion to about $3.83 trillion as almost $200 billion flowed out of the space.
That pushed losses beyond the headline Bitcoin numbers and left traders in altcoin-heavy positions nursing larger drawdowns.
Thin weekend liquidity served to enhance the price gyrations, making the action more extreme than it would have been on a more active trading day.
There is also a historical component to the tale. September has a history of strong pullbacks in bull markets, with strong corrections in 2017 and 2021.
Featured image from Meta, chart from TradingView
