- Bitcoin price tagged the $70K milestone on Coinbase, among other exchanges before a quick retraction.
- Coinbase exchange crashed for the third time as BTC skyrocketed to new highs.
- Community members call out the trading platform, citing manipulation.
Bitcoin (BTC) price remains bullish, forging north to record a new all-time high on Coinbase Exchange. However, a recent incident on this trading platform has sparked speculation of manipulation.
Also Read: Bitcoin price clears previous ATH, tops out at $69,990 on Binance
Community deems Coinbase an impediment after Bitcoin records new peak
Bitcoin (BTC) price tagged the $70,000 psychological level on Coinbase Exchange on Friday, only for a moment though before a quick retraction. The pioneer cryptocurrency also nicked $70,000 on BitMex Exchange and recorded an intra-day high of $70,154 on FXStreet’s charts against the US Dollar (USD). On Binance, BTC peaked at $69,990.
Among all trading platforms, however, Coinbase Exchange was the outlier as it crashed for the third time this month. The timing made an impression as it has happened everytime when Bitcoin price was attempting to record new peaks.
Do you think Coinbase is trying to
Manipulate the Bitcoin price ?Last 3 times when Bitcoin have came
close to new all time high, Coinbase
crashed all the 3 times.— Ash Crypto (@Ashcryptoreal) March 8, 2024
For some, the crash was not a surprise, given Coinbase’s track record of going offline during instances of exponential trading volume. For others, however, the crash appears to be calculated, intended to benefit its wealthy clientele.
you dont front-run a wealthy investor, they will fud and manipulate that investment into a major correction then slip in thru the back door – notice how coinbase acts near that high price? your wallets suddenly go empty while rich clients get to buy or sell $velo veloprotocol
— Dave (@TruckerDave89) March 8, 2024
One user, going by @BritishHodl on X, alleges a proper chronology of events wherein Coinbase waits for the market to rally up to a point where OTC dealers run out of BTC, then they “shut down the engine.” The result is panic among retail traders, causing trading algorithms to start dumping, which causes OTC desks to become flush again. At this point, “Coinbase turns back on the engine and allows BlackRock, Fidelity and the big boys to buy up all that Bitcoin.”
Even Eric Balchunas, a specialist from Bloomberg Intelligence focusing on exchange-traded funds (ETFs) has remarked on the series of crashes, questioning the impact on ETFs as he wonders how such a rich, technology-oriented company crashes with such frequency.
Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan, who recently lauded BTC investors for “steadfast optimism and confidence,” says that while the series of crashes is a bad look, it does not change business for Coinbase.
…users care about uptime, but average users do not. Most users are average users.
Nevertheless, Hougan observes that the crash only affects retail because custody, which serves institutional players, is unaffected.
Moreover, most ETFs trade through multiple OTC counterparties that tap into global liquidity, and there is plenty of liquidity in non-Coinbase platforms.
According to the Bitwise executive, the thing to watch is how these crashes will impact the reputation of Coinbase, its heft as the largest US-based crypto exchange notwithstanding.
It’s a bad look for sure. But will it change anything for their business? On an immediate basis, I doubt it. Coinbase crashed all the time in past bull markets, yet it still grew like crazy.
That’s actually a theme through internet history. Facebook crashed all the time; it…
— Matt Hougan (@Matt_Hougan) March 8, 2024
Cryptocurrency metrics FAQs
The developer or creator of each cryptocurrency decides on the total number of tokens that can be minted or issued. Only a certain number of these assets can be minted by mining, staking or other mechanisms. This is defined by the algorithm of the underlying blockchain technology. Since its inception, a total of 19,445,656 BTCs have been mined, which is the circulating supply of Bitcoin. On the other hand, circulating supply can also be decreased via actions such as burning tokens, or mistakenly sending assets to addresses of other incompatible blockchains.
Market capitalization is the result of multiplying the circulating supply of a certain asset by the asset’s current market value. For Bitcoin, the market capitalization at the beginning of August 2023 is above $570 billion, which is the result of the more than 19 million BTC in circulation multiplied by the Bitcoin price around $29,600.
Trading volume refers to the total number of tokens for a specific asset that has been transacted or exchanged between buyers and sellers within set trading hours, for example, 24 hours. It is used to gauge market sentiment, this metric combines all volumes on centralized exchanges and decentralized exchanges. Increasing trading volume often denotes the demand for a certain asset as more people are buying and selling the cryptocurrency.
Funding rates are a concept designed to encourage traders to take positions and ensure perpetual contract prices match spot markets. It defines a mechanism by exchanges to ensure that future prices and index prices periodic payments regularly converge. When the funding rate is positive, the price of the perpetual contract is higher than the mark price. This means traders who are bullish and have opened long positions pay traders who are in short positions. On the other hand, a negative funding rate means perpetual prices are below the mark price, and hence traders with short positions pay traders who have opened long positions.
Bitcoin price outlook as crypto community calls out Coinbase after third crash
Bitcoin price is confronting resistance due to the $69,000 threshold, a level last tested on March 5 when BTC recorded a peak of $69,324. Despite the quick rejection from $70,000, the upside potential remains viable with BTC price pushing against the roadblock.
Momentum continues to rise, seen with the ascending Relative Strength Index (RSI), accentuated by the growing histogram bars of the volume indicator. This points to a trend that is only gaining strength. Increased buying pressure could see Bitcoin price revisit the $70,000 threshold. A decisive move above this level would pave way for extended gains.
BTC/USDT 1-day chart
On the other hand, profit-taking could see Bitcoin price drop toward the $60,000 psychological level.
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