Bitcoin price flash crashes by 87% to $8K on Binance US

Bitcoin (BTC) crashed to just $8,100 on Oct. 21 — but only if you were trading on Binance’s dedicated United States exchange, Binance U.S.

On Thursday, Binance U.S. suddenly printed a one-minute candle which took BTC/USD from $65,815 to $8,200 — a drop of 87%.

“Shouldn’t be happening”

In what traders call a “scam wick,” the one-minute BTC/USD differed dramatically from other major exchanges, which logged a one-minute candle with a floor around $64,200.

The phenomenon has occurred more frequently in recent days, with Bitstamp also seeing freak order book events. 

The scope of the Binance U.S. error, however, was in a league of its own, and did not go unnoticed by market participants.

“Well done Binance U.S.,” popular Twitter trader Crypto Chase summarized.

“Good thing Americans are forced on to these dogshit exchanges where they can get completely scammed on unreasonably thin books. This type of shit just shouldn’t be happening. It’s not fair that some get stopped out and some stay in, some get fills and some don’t.”

Crypto Chase referred to the implications sudden erratic price movements on exchanges, these serving to liquidate traders who should have retained their positions.

The debacle was tinged with irony, coming just as Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, known as CZ, warned about incoming volatility.

“Expect very high volatility in crypto over the next few months,” he tweeted on the day.

Leverage builds in overly long market

Meanwhile, concerns were also mounting Thursday that leveraged traders had taken on more risk than they could chew.

Related: Bitcoin futures ETF hits $1B AUM in a record-breaking two days

A look at funding rates across exchanges hinted at excessive optimism, with traders going long BTC en masse — a classic indicator of a correction.

Funding rates had increased significantly in the hours after BTC/USD passed its recent all-time high and went on to hit $67,100.