BitMEX experienced a ~60% flash crash in a single candle earlier on Thursday raising chaos amongst a number of traders on the platform. While the news has been passed around the cryptomeria and Crypto Twitter communities of a possible liquidation on the flash crash, BitMEX has come out strongly denying any effects of the flash crash.
Furthermore, the exchange said there will be no rollbacks or refunds on traders who stop losses did not trigger during the crash.
BitMEX drops from $0.34 to $0.14 USD in a flash crash
A number of traders came forward claiming their stop losses did not trigger as the price fell over 58% on BitMEX exchange alone. One analyst, complained on XRP’s inability to hold its own while a number bashed the exchange for what is now called “XRP BitMEX’d”. Another trader complained that they had lost all their trading amounts on the back of the flash crash.
WTF. FUCK YOU BITMEX. This is really not okay! My stop didn´t trigger and my entire bitmex account is fucking gone. Fuck you! pic.twitter.com/WHXbJoiTvL
— Marc de Koning (@Koning_Marc) February 13, 2020
The XRP perpetual futures on BitMEX is witnessing rising volumes as the third-largest cryptocurrency looks set for a bull party in the near term. However, with the latest reports emerging from the community, interest in the asset may drop.
Connection to Arthur Hayes XRP comments?
At the start of the week, Arthur Hayes, CEO of BitMEX, tweeted out a rather skeptical comment on XRP which has raised a ton of questions on the events of the flash crash on Wednesday. On the rise of XRP past the key resistance level at $0.32 USD, Arthur tweeted:
“CRipple the shorts. Pro Tip: the Buy and Sell buttons are both equally profitable regardless of whether or not you are trading a turd.”
While it does not directly connect to the flash crash in XRP’s price such comments from a CEO constitutes a heavy deal of information asymmetry. According to one frustrated trader, BitMEX should be kept in check by authorities as it were a U.S company to ensure such manipulation does not occur.
If BitMEX were a US-regulated exchange, this would likely warrant a conversation with someone at the CFTC at minimum, if not a full internal investigation to determine how the flash crash occurred.
That won't happen. I wonder if BitMEX will even respond. This is crypto in 2020. https://t.co/EGoRA5HMtM
— Jake Chervinsky (@jchervinsky) February 13, 2020
“No rollbacks or refunds”
Despite the flash crash claims made by select traders, most of the other traders’ long contracts remained active and their assets not liquidated during the flash crash. This raises a question on the legitimacy of the complaints that stop losses were not activated.
Furthermore, BitMEX released a statement on their website claiming the flash crash was a result of market factors such as low liquidity on the pair hence they won’ t be rolling back trades or refunding the customers for the flash crash. Here is the response one of the traders received from BitMEX.
All in all, for those who were BitMEX’d we pass our sincere apologies but remember that risks on trades are heavily dependent on the user. Hence select the best crypto exchanges and products too trade before throwing your savings away.
Disclaimer The views, opinions, positions or strategies expressed by the authors and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, positions or strategies of CoinGape. Do your market research before investing in cryptocurrencies. The author or publication does not hold any responsibility for your personal financial loss.
Been in the field since 2015 and he still love everything blockchain and crypto! FC Barcelona fan. Author and journalist. Follow him at @lujanodera.
