How Ethereum Plunged to $190 in Minutes Amidst Unexpected Correction

On May 17, the price of Bitcoin plunged from around $7800 to $6700 within minutes in a flash crash on BitMEX. Immediately after, the price of Ethereum dropped from $240 to $190. The abrupt decline in the price of Bitcoin was triggered by the placement of a large sell order on Bitstamp and other major crypto exchanges, which triggered contracts on margin trading platforms like BitMEX to become liquidated.

A whale crashes the entire crypto market 20% in 5 minutes with a single sell order on the books and people actually think an ETF is coming? 🤣. - Eric Conner May 17, 2019.

The 5,000 BTC sell wall on Bitstamp that led to the sell-off of both bitcoin and Ethereum on BitMEX, led to a $30 billion drop in the valuation of the crypto market overnight.

Including global markets analyst Alex Krüger, have said that the overnight 10 percent drop of most crypto assets could serve as evidence that the narrative of the viability of crypto assets as a safe haven against global financial instability is flawed.

As the short-term price action of Bitcoin and other major crypto assets gets absorbed by the market, investors still expect the market to sustain its positive sentiment and trend over the coming months.

While a minor pullback in the crypto market was expected by many investors, the magnitude in which assets fell came as a surprise to traders.

In a sense, the short-term correction was triggered by a whale's exploit of the current structure of the crypto market.

Had the market have more trusted, regulated, and widely utilized platforms, it may have been more difficult to manipulate the market and the prices of major crypto assets.

Peter Brandt, a respected trader and technical analyst, said on May 13 that the launch of Bakkt, which is scheduled to occur in July with the approval of the Commodities and Futures Trading Commission could have a long-lasting impact on the state of the crypto market.

Bitcoin and the rest of the crypto market recovered relatively quickly following a 10 percent drop, leaving a sign of relief after a rapid downside price movement.