In a surprising turn of events, Bitcoin’s price mimicked a virtual rollercoaster ride, setting the trading community ablaze. Changpeng “CZ” Zhao swiftly addressed the chaos following a striking screenshot that indicated Bitcoin had plummeted to the shocking price of approximately $24,111 on Binance. He clarified that this incident stemmed from a microstructure issue related to a newly listed BTC/USD1 trading pair rather than an actual market collapse, emphasizing that the exchange had “no involvement” in any trades.

What Caused Bitcoin’s Unexpected Price Drop?

The abrupt decline appeared limited to the BTC/USD1 pair, which is quoted in USD1, a stablecoin launched by World Liberty Financial, backed by the Trump family. Traders quickly noted that within moments, the price recovered significantly, bouncing back to over $87,000, based on the exchange data that circulated among the trading community.

CZ offered clarity on the situation, explaining that due to the ineffective order book, one aggressive market order could trigger a brief but drastic price change before arbitrageurs corrected the discrepancy. “This situation demonstrates that the exchange isn’t engaged in any trades. A lack of liquidity in new trading pairs allows a single substantial market order to create erratic price fluctuations, which are corrected swiftly by arbitrage traders. There were no liquidations involved since this trading pair doesn’t form part of any price index,” he stated.

Furthermore, CZ shared insights from Catherine Chan, Head of Business Development at Solv Protocol, who described the incident as “a liquidity event” rather than a catastrophic drop in Bitcoin value. She pointed to a recent Binance-and-USD1 promotional campaign offering users a 20% fixed APY deposit deal. This initiative, she noted, led customers to exchange USDT for USD1, briefly inflating USD1’s price.

“Several traders exchanged USDT for USD1, lifting USD1 to a noteworthy premium of 0.39%. This is significant for a stablecoin. Savvy investors borrowed USD1 through lending systems linked to SolvBTC, capitalizing on favorable rates. Their actions, either depositing USD1 directly or gradually selling it on spot markets to fulfill demand, led to someone using a market order to sell via BTC/USD1. However, due to the thin liquidity, this market order cleared out most of the buy offers, resulting in an exceptionally low price,” Catherine detailed.

She further explained, “Arbitrage systems reacted instantly to buy back those assets. The fundamentals remained intact. There were no widespread liquidations.”

The incident stirred familiar waves of crypto skepticism. One user on social media, Bera (@doomsdart), speculated a coordinated effort behind this event: “CZ and the Trump family are signaling their upcoming moves regarding our assets. Prepare yourselves.” Meanwhile, CZ’s response hinted at the contrary — the quick actions of arbitrageurs and the lack of cascading liquidations indicated that the venue was not “printing” a widespread market price.

For traders navigating this landscape, the key lesson learned is that new trading pairs can be inherently unstable. Promotions leading to quick flows into a single stablecoin can leave the order books thin, creating conditions that allow a singular market order to dominate headlines before establishing a long-lasting trend.

As of the latest update, Bitcoin has stabilized and is trading at approximately $89,298.