u.today
The price of Bitcoin, the flagship cryptocurrency took a nosedive earlier today, losing 6% of its value in less than an hour.
At 1:57 a.m. UTC, the bellwether cryptocurrency dropped to an intraday low of $22,000 on the Bitstamp exchange. Bitcoin plunged to its lowest level in two weeks, throwing a wrench in the works for bulls.
The recent sell-off came amid the collapse of cryptocurrency-friendly bank Silvergate.
As reported by U.Today, the shares of the embattled bank took a massive 50% hit, reaching an all-time low. This came after the company delayed its annual report and said that it would have to review its books with its auditors. Several of its major cryptocurrency clients, including Coinbase, Bitstamp, Circle, and Paxos, have all made announcements about severing ties.
Amid the fallout, Silvergate is likely to face inquiries from bank regulators as well as the US Department of Justice.
According to Coinglass data, there have been a total of $210.14 million in crypto liquidations over the past 24 hours, with long positions accounting for 96.78% of the total. Binance had the highest amount of liquidations at $73.75 million, followed by OKX at $71.21 million, and Huobi at $26.41 million. Long positions also dominated the liquidations on these exchanges, with longs accounting for 95.97% on Binance, 99.33% on OKX, and 98.42% on Huobi.
At press time, the world's largest cryptocurrency is trading at $22,387 on the Bitstamp exchange.