Bitcoin Plunges 7% to $42,000 in Flash Crash as Bull Run Falters

Bitcoin‘s bull run has been brought to a screeching halt, with the cryptocurrency plunging to under $42,000 in a matter of minutes on Wednesday morning.

Per data from CoinGecko, Bitcoin’s price has dropped by 7.3% in the past 24 hours, with the cryptocurrency currently trading at around $42,200. Bitcoin’s price tumbled as low as $41,804 during the crash, erasing gains seen in the past week.

Over $550 million in crypto long positions were liquidated in the past 24 hours, per data from CoinGlass, including $104 million in Bitcoin longs in the past hour alone.

Other cryptocurrencies in the top 10 plunged alongside Bitcoin, with Ethereum slumping by 8.8% to just under $2,200, while Solana crashed by over 15% in the past 24 hours to under $100. XRP crashed by over 10%, while Cardano fell by 14% and Avalanche by 15%.

The price slump comes as the crypto market braces for the SEC’s decision on whether or not to approve multiple spot Bitcoin ETF applications in the coming days, with some analysts speculating that it will be a “sell-the-news” event.

In a research note, Matrixport analyst Markus Thielen yesterday argued that the SEC would likely reject all applications for a spot Bitcoin ETF in January, in contrast to the optimistic stance expressed by Bloomberg Intelligence and JP Morgan analysts.