Manipulation to induce panic.

[Herodes]

One or more big players are at this point selling off to induce a selling panic.

I can't see any other reason for the selloffs. Anyone wanting to offload coins would not do it like this. It's like wasting money, as it's better to gradually offload it at higher prices than just selling down like this.


So, probably their goal is to buy bitcoins at lower prices, or it could be an attempt to damage the bitcoin economy (but I do not think that's very plausible).

We saw apparently that there was a 210K sell wall earlier, been mentioned several places, if one person or a group of persons have that amount of coins, they can basically play the market exactly as they want.

I wouldn't worry too much though, as price most often tend to go back to where it was at, or slightly higher or lower after a rapid decrease or increase, unless of course it's one of the few occasions where it doesn't follow that rule.

While the rise in summer 2011 to 32 was only fueled by dreams and not much consistancy, at this point in time there are quite a few more drivers in the bitcoin economy, so I do not think us seeing 26 this time is a bubble. I would think that this time we would easily see prices of 50+, and then perhaps some crash back to 20ish, I don't believe there would be possible to have a crash down to single digits this time, unless it was manipulator driven, and even with that amount of coins being sold, the market would recover, and a lot of people would jump onto the possibility of getting cheap coins. The upwards pressure and the indicators for bitcoin is pointing upward at this point in time, althoug we will not have a linear increase, and there will be corrections along the way.

I could ofcourse be wrong, and the sales just being panic sales, but since the sales are consisting of considereable amount of coins, I would think those sales are from skilled traders, as most newbe traders don't invest that much. It could very well be some snirky city boys (or one) sitting giggling in his office playing with his new toy.

[1714897970]

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[notig]

My thoughts exactly. The seller's plan could backfire if the price doesn't drop further after he stops selling. My guess is the plan will work though since when people come to look at the price and all the sudden it's 21 dollars they will sell reducing it even further causing the panic. I bet it will drop down to 14ish and then pop back up to 17-18 for a bit.

[payb.tc]

I can't see any other reason for the selloffs. Anyone wanting to offload coins would not do it like this. It's like wasting money, as it's better to gradually offload it at higher prices than just selling down like this.

i see this over and over again but disagree

doing it slowly increases the very real risk that someone else with a similar amount of coins gets in and dumps before you do. it's a game of chicken.

[BitcoinRate.com]

I'd bet quite a large amount is panic sales

[Herodes]

I can't see any other reason for the selloffs. Anyone wanting to offload coins would not do it like this. It's like wasting money, as it's better to gradually offload it at higher prices than just selling down like this.

i see this over and over again but disagree

doing it slowly increases the very real risk that someone else with a similar amount of coins gets in and dumps before you do. it's a game of chicken.

True that, but most of the time, there are no sudden big increases or big decreases in the price. So the possibility that if you use 2 hours to offload your coins at about the current price, the possibility of the price increasing dramatically or decreasing significantly during that time is pretty low. Therefore I have an issue buying your argument.

It would be a bit like rushing into a gas station to buy a hotdog, because there could be someone else coming in front of you and making it hard for you, for instance if a buss with soccer players just stopped, and they were all hungry and needed food. Most of the time though, there will be no rush, and you will get your hotdog without issues.

[Ichthyo]

aaaaand we're back to slightly below 25 

[thezerg]

already back to 25!  Panic sellers are crying... manipulators are in shock :-)

[ajk]

Seriously lol,

Id say a big portion was maybe one big hand but the rest who panic sold and are forced to buy back in higher

GOOD JOB

[Littleshop]

I can't see any other reason for the selloffs. Anyone wanting to offload coins would not do it like this. It's like wasting money, as it's better to gradually offload it at higher prices than just selling down like this.

i see this over and over again but disagree

doing it slowly increases the very real risk that someone else with a similar amount of coins gets in and dumps before you do. it's a game of chicken.

Unlikely.  There are not that many large volume sellers.  

It is easily explained without much work, it is stupidity.  

[Herodes]

I can't see any other reason for the selloffs. Anyone wanting to offload coins would not do it like this. It's like wasting money, as it's better to gradually offload it at higher prices than just selling down like this.

i see this over and over again but disagree

doing it slowly increases the very real risk that someone else with a similar amount of coins gets in and dumps before you do. it's a game of chicken.

Unlikely.  There are not that many large volume sellers.  

It is easily explained without much work, it is stupidity.  

http://qkme.me/3szf4v

[adamstgBit]

i think bitcoin was high really high, someone sold a bunch and then other then and other, faster and faster... and then Panic!Panic!Panic!Panic!

their isn't one person making these moves happen, its just people being people, bitcoin is high and everyone wants to get out at the top, not hard to see why they think 24 - 26 could be the top...

[Herodes]

i think bitcoin was high really high, someone sold a bunch and then other then and other, faster and faster... and then Panic!Panic!Panic!Panic!

their isn't one person making these moves happen, its just people being people, bitcoin is high and everyone wants to get out at the top, not hard to see why they think 24 - 26 could be the top...

High? Wait till we're trading at 100ish.

[Cluster2k]

Someone was so keen to sell that they've left MtGox Live battered, bruised and broken.  I need my pretty chart of the carnage :-)

[Herodes]

Someone was so keen to sell that they've left MtGox Live battered, bruised and broken.  I need my pretty chart of the carnage :-)

Maybe not as pretty, but it gives some info:
http://bitcoinity.org/markets

[zoinky]

They just wanted a red candle.

[piramida]

That was the first flash crash that I remember, usually takes couple of days to recover, this one was instant. Meaning - there's a lot of demand for coins at lower prices. Stable growth.

[lebing]

They just wanted a red candle.

Fuck me if that is true

[chmod755]

They just wanted a red candle.

Fuck me if that is true

Valentine's day? Red candle? Makes sense!

[TraderTimm]

It's called a V-Reversal. It happens when irrational traders panic, then the saavy ones pick up the bargains. A transfer from the weak hands to the strong. This occurs in regular equity and commodity futures markets, too.

But keep on going with the "Master Manipulator" theory, its amusing to watch the group psychosis play out.

[NamelessOne]

It's called a V-Reversal. It happens when irrational traders panic, then the saavy ones pick up the bargains. A transfer from the weak hands to the strong. This occurs in regular equity and commodity futures markets, too.

But keep on going with the "Master Manipulator" theory, its amusing to watch the group psychosis play out.

While there has CLEARLY been huge manipulation in the bitcoin market by market making whales, this sell off may have just been a correction. But the topic of if a BIG PLAYER out there has been pushing BTC around for periods of its history isn't really up to debate. You can see the super walls in plain sight. Pirate40 publicly said he was doing this.