Did A Trader Buy Bitcoin At A 450% Premium? Not Likely: Price Corrects After Glitch

Bitcoin BTC/USD spiked to approximately $138,000 on the Binance.US cryptocurrency exchange today.

What Happened: The surge, which occurred specifically in the Bitcoin/Tether trading pair, happened at 6:50 a.m. UTC. It lasted mere seconds before prices realigned with other Bitcoin spot markets, Coindesk reported.

Other Bitcoin trading pairs remained stable during this episode.

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It's highly improbable that a trader intended to purchase Bitcoin at an almost 450% premium, especially when the cryptocurrency was trading just above $29,000 during Wednesday’s European morning hours.

Why It Matters: The sudden and anomalous spike likely stems from low liquidity in the Bitcoin/Tether market on Binance.US.

Market depth data reveals that a $400,000 Bitcoin purchase on this trading pair could elevate prices by 2%. This is in contrast to at least $842,000 needed to produce the same effect on a Bitcoin/USD trading pair.

"Market depth" is indicative of the liquidity available in a financial market.

According to a recent Kaiko report, Binance.US’s market depth has plummeted 76% since May. This drop insinuates that market makers and traders have largely withdrawn from the exchange.

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