Bitcoin price dives to $27.7K to fill giant futures gap in biggest drop since $20K

Bitcoin (BTC) lost $30,000 support on Jan. 4 as all-time highs gave way to a rapid retracement totaling thousands of dollars.

BTC price dips $4,000 in 60 minutes

Data from Cointelegraph Markets, Coin360 and TradingView showed BTC/USD shedding more than 12% in just one hour on Monday.

The pullback gathered pace after choppy trading behavior overnight on Sunday, with altcoins rising to take an ever-larger slice of Bitcoin's market capitalization dominance.

At press time, amid heavy volatility, lows focused on $27,700 amid a bounce to nearer $30,000.

Exchange activity was picking up, data showed, with inflows rising dramatically on the day after traders removed funds last week.

"Just woke up to the biggest $BTC dip we've had since breaking 20k," Venture Coinist podcast host Luke Martin summarized. 

"Down 20% from the peak....my brain is not used to 28k being a 20% drop though."

CME gap sees an unlikely instant fill

Those brought Bitcoin in line with short-term predictions from Cointelegraph Markets analyst Michaël van de Poppe, who identified the lower bound for Bitcoin in his latest YouTube video update.

"If we want to see some support zones on Bitcoin and expecting where we're going to move from, the first area is around $29,600, second area is around $27,600," he said just before the major losses took hold.

As Cointelegraph reported, statistician Willy Woo was unfazed on Sunday about a significant pullback, arguing that only a freak occurrence could take BTC/USD to $24,000 — the site of a "gap" in Bitcoin futures markets left from December.

$27,700, meanwhile, fills the gap created on CME Bitcoin futures markets over the weekend, a classic move that had been absent from previous weeks.