Bitcoin price suddenly drops 11% as whales move BTC to exchanges

Bitcoin (BTC) dropped $1,000 in minutes on Nov. 26 as a long-awaited pullback hit the market at close to $19,500.

BTC price hits $17,250 lows

Data from Cointelegraph Markets and TradingView showed BTC/USD experiencing major volatility overnight on Wednesday.

After nearly hitting $19,500 during the day’s trading, after-hours saw a period of bearish indecision that ended in a sharp sell-off. Bitcoin then bounced at $17,250, capping daily losses of around 5%.

Many analysts had already warned that the recent gains were due for a pullback, among them CNBC host Brian Kelly and trader Tone Vays, who forecast a dip to $14,000 on Thursday. 

Meanwhile, several metrics have also hinted at a looming correction. Among them is the popular Crypto Fear and Greed Index, which has remained at record-high levels throughout November.

Exchange selling pressure mounts

The sudden price drop came in tandem with large-volume investors depositing BTC to exchanges — presumably with the aim of taking profit near Bitcoin’s $20,000 all-time highs.

“All Exchanges Inflow Mean increased a few hours ago. It indicates that whales, relatively speaking, deposited $BTC to exchanges,” Ki Young Ju, creator of on-chain analytics resource CryptoQuant, summarized to Twitter followers.

“But long-term on-chain indicators say the buying pressure prevails. I still think we can break 20k in a few days.”

Bitcoin’s fundamental indicators support the bullish theory going forward with the mining difficulty set for a 7.3% uptick in three days’ time and hash rate continuing to grow.

At press time, BTC/USD circled $17,900 after a modest recovery from local lows.