The price of bitcoin fell by about 8 percent over a span of 10 minutes, causing the largest cryptocurrency to drop significantly below $26,000 before partially recovering.
Bitcoin was trading around $27,677 before it plummeted just over 8 percent to $25,409, according to Coinmarketcap.
The price of bitcoin was even lower on the Bitfinex crypto exchange, reaching a low of $24,715 before partially recovering above $26,000.
Initial reactions from the community on X (Twitter) linked the price drop to reports that SpaceX sold bitcoin it previously acquired for $373 million, while others pointed to the Chinese Evergrande group, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in New York.
The drop brought bitcoin’s market capitalization below $500 billion for the first time since June 16 and the lowest levels not seen since June 20.
Analyst Will Clemente noted that bitcoin recorded the largest one-day increase in implied volatility this year.
Despite the drop, bitcoin is still up 60 percent since the beginning of 2023.
