Bitcoin (BTC) lost 20% in a day partly thanks to the actions of a single whale, new research suggests.
Data from on-chain analytics firm Santiment on Feb. 23 showed that BTC/USD dipped to $47,400 after Bitcoin’s second-largest transaction of 2021 took place.
Ghost of Bitcoin sell-offs past returns
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The transaction, 2,700 BTC worth $156.6 million at $58,000 per token, resulted in a sale which piled pressure on the market, this snowballing into the largest one-hour candle in Bitcoin’s history.
“As we noted yesterday, there was an 11x exchange inflow spike that initiated #Bitcoin’s price correction from its $58.3k #ATH,” Santiment wrote in accompanying comments on Twitter.
“Further data combing revealed that an address was responsible for the 2nd largest $BTC transaction of the year, an import of 2,700 tokens to the wallet before a quick sell-off.”
Import chart for suspect whale sell-off address. Source: Santiment/ Twitter
The findings shed light on what exactly was happening as volatility