Bitcoin (BTC) crashed $500 in minutes on Oct. 23 after a sudden jolt sent markets tumbling to fresh lows.
Cryptocurrency market daily overview. Source: Coin360
Bitcoin firmly ditches $8K range
Data from Coin360 captured the moment panic hit for traders on Wednesday, BTC/USD going from $7,950 to $7,450 in just five minutes.
Bitcoin seven-day price chart. Source: Coin360
The reasons for the dip are yet to become clear, but the volatility upends the most recent period of flat performance for Bitcoin.
The move may have been preempted. As CryptoX reported, on Tuesday, BTC/USD saw rejection at $8,300 after attempting to push higher, temporarily returning to the $7Ks before a rebound.
Those gains have now firmly disappeared, Bitcoin marking a floor not seen since mid-May.
The level at which BTC/USD bounced firmly tied in with predicted support at the 200-day moving average. CryptoX contributor Michaël van der Poppe had previously estimated the $7,400 level would catch further downside.
Altcoins follow with 8% losses
Bitcoin’s slide meanwhile sparked mayhem across major cryptocurrencies. A glance at the top twenty altcoins by market cap saw many losing between 6% and 8%.
The total cryptocurrency market cap also shed considerable value, dropping from $218 billion to $208 billion.
