Bitcoin plunged as low as $34,500 on Bitstamp just minutes ago as buying pressure finally began to subside heading into the weekend.
After peaking at $42,000 late last week, the cryptocurrency’s price action began to taper off heading into the weekend. This culminated in a strong flush lower over the past few hours that brought the leading cryptocurrency from the $40,000 region to lows at around $34,500 on some exchanges.
Chart of BTC’s price action over the past few hours from TradingView.com
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There appears to have been a large divergence between the price of Bitcoin on spot exchanges versus the price of Bitcoin on futures exchanges. It appears that there were spot sellers leading the dip, resulting in this divergence, as those on the futures market began to bet on a rebound.
This is made apparent by the high futures funding rate. The funding rate is the fee that long positions pay short positions on a recurring basis
