Bitcoin Forum

The Crypto Market Just Dropped on One Data Adjustment

CoinMarketCap, perhaps the go-to source for cryptocurrency market data, has sparked an uproar after it moved to exclude South Korean exchanges from its price average calculations.

The unannounced move to remove data from Bithumb, Coinone and Korbit from its average calculations sparked confusion given that its front-page suggests a broad decline in the cryptocurrency market, including what appeared to be a near-30% fall in the price of XRP.

The overall market cap of the market – one measure by which traders assess the ecosystem – dropped sharply once the change went into effect, which appears to have taken place just before 5 a.m. UTC.

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That shift can be notably seen in the 24-hour price chart for bitcoin cash, given that the three Korean exchanges are among the top-10 by trade volume for the cryptocurrency.

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The exact reason for pulling the data isn't clear at this time, though as of press time Bithumb is offline because of what the exchange says is a server check. And prices on those exchanges have consistently traded far above the rest of the market, such as the more than $5,000 spread spread compared to markets like Bitfinex and GDAX.

Further, commentators like Ripple chief cryptographer David Schwartz, who tweeted out about the move, said the newly-reflected price is "more accurate and meaningful."

That sentiment hasn't spared CoinMarketCap from the crypto-community's ire, however.

Social media posts across Reddit and Twitter have chastised the site, crying foul about the lack of any formal announcement that they say led to an actual price decline as traders reacted to what they perceived as a tumbling market.

And while CoinMarketCap excluded Korean exchanges from its data, other data sites showed similar declines in asset prices.

OnChain FX's data matched CoinMarketCap's prices, yet CoinCap, while still showing declines in pricing for most of the top 50 crypto-assets, displayed higher prices for bitcoin, ether, XRP and bitcoin cash than CoinMarketCap did.

Similarly, data site LiveCoinWatch showed bitcoin falling to $14,787, somewhere between CoinMarketCap' $14,754 and CoinCap's $15,596 at time of writing.

The changes in the different sites' data go beyond just prices. Whereas LiveCoinWatch still shows XRP as the second-largest asset by market cap, the other data sites now show ethereum retaking its former spot.

Representatives for CoinMarketCap did not immediately respond to a submitted request for comment.

Source: https://www.coindesk.com/the-crypto-market-just-dropped-on-one-data-adjustment/

Ah, so this is the reason for today's tumble? Didn't verify it myself, but I can understand the "wrath" from the crypto trading community, even if they should chastise themselves for falling for the numbers trap. If a simple data manipulation (of maybe I should just say recalibration) can cause this kind of panic sell-off, then traders should really be ashamed of themselves.

Anyway, I highly doubt it's really just that. Natural correction, unnatural swing, it's all logical now for Bitcoin. If the news is true and people "find out", then no harm done, traders get to buy back at cheaper prices and enjoy a good profit when market recovers from fake news.

I'm conflicted on this one.  My initial thought is that it should be seen as an occupational hazard for traders when you freely choose to place your trust in third party data, in what's frequently touted as a "trustless" environment.  At the end of the day, they're providing this data for free and should be under no obligation to justify their decisions in what is ultimately the right call.  These ousted exchanges weren't providing accurate material to input into the equation and should be discarded from the figures.

But after some consideration, it's also fair to say that CoinMarketCap should be aware of their standing in the community and the sheer amount of traffic they receive, so they maybe could have handled things a little better and given some warning prior to the change.  Traders by their nature are reactionary creatures.  Plus any sudden movements tend to trigger a significant number of stop-limit orders, along with all the HTF automated bots likely overreacting and compounding the drama unnecessarily.  It's still not really an excuse, though.  Traders can't feel too hard done by when it's ultimately a mess of their own making.  If you want to complain about info you got for free, pay someone to do it for you next time.  Think of it as a business opportunity if that helps.