Bitcoin regains $29k after flash crash yesterday

Yesterday Bitcoin was in the midst of a rally that brought it back above $30,000 due to new data coming out re-igniting fears of a banking crisis when it had a sudden downturn that wiped away all of the recent gains in just about an hour.

Some analysts say that yesterday’s swift correction was brought on by a false alarm issued by on-chain analytical provider Arkham Research. The false alarm was announced by Arkham and quickly got a lot of attention on social media platforms; the claim was that the estimated 141,000 BTC held by the U.S. Government since 2014 was on the move. Proponents have long speculated that the release of these funds back to the wallets that rightfully deserve them (those that lost Bitcoin due to a security breach) would lead to a major sell-off in Bitcoin.  

Arkham claimed no responsibility for the crash siting that the drop occurred between 19:17 and 20:01 UTC, and the alerts and tweets were sent afterward at 20:07 UTC and 20:08 UTC. However, with no other apparent causes for the brief sell-off yesterday it seems as though they must be at least partially responsible.

Traders are once again focusing on the resurgence of the regional banking crisis after First Republic Bank continued its dramatic descent now down 95% since the beginning of March.

This helped Bitcoin regain pricing over $29,000 and as of 6:10 PM EST is trading up 4.13% at $29,600. Yesterday’s brief dip lower re-affirms strong support is at $27,000 while resistance remains at $30,000.