Bitcoin had a tough time bouncing back after a massive drop earlier in the week, sinking nearly 9.22%. By Thursday morning in London, it hadn’t moved much, hovering around $43,056. While it showed some recovery from Wednesday’s low, it still sat about 6.2% below its peak for the year.
Just before January 2, Bitcoin had surged to a high not seen in almost two years. This surge happened right before an important January 10 deadline, which could potentially greenlight the very first exchange-traded fund linked directly to Bitcoin’s actual value.
However, things took a drastic turn as Bitcoin, alongside the broader crypto market, took a sudden nosedive on Wednesday. Some pointed fingers at Matrixport analyst Markus Thielen, suggesting that his prediction of the SEC rejecting all Bitcoin ETF proposals this month might have triggered the crash.
This plummet caused over $600 million worth of cryptocurrency positions on major exchanges to be liquidated, making it the largest liquidation since December 11, according to Coinglass data.
Addressing the uproar caused by the report, Jihan Wu, founder of Matrixport, took to X, previously known as Twitter, expressing disbelief that a single report from Matrixport could shake a trillion-dollar market.
Wu further added in another post that despite the current uncertainty surrounding the potential approval of a Bitcoin ETF in January 2024, it holds no real significance when considering Bitcoin’s history and its future prospects.