Why Did Bitcoin Suddenly Crash to $80K?

Bitcoin's latest leg down took place during the Asian trading hours - coincidence?

Bitcoin’s adverse price developments that began at the start of the previous business week culminated in another nosedive earlier this morning to just over $80,000 on most exchanges.

This means that the asset tested this key support for the first time in nearly a month. Here are some of the possible reasons.

Pain in Asia

Earlier this week, Tom Lee warned that the major correction experienced in Asia’s largest equities could translate into a fresh pullback in the cryptocurrency markets. At the time, South Korea’s stock market dumped by 5% at one point, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 went from 69,000 on Friday to 67,130 on Tuesday.

After both indices tried to rebound in the following days, the landscape worsened in the past 24 hours. The Nikkei is down by roughly 6% in the past 24 hours alone, dumping from 68,375 to 64,130 before it rebounded slightly to 64,685 as of press time.

Korea’s KOSPI has performed even worse. It traded at 6,800 last Thursday before it tumbled to 6,000 at the start of the current business week. The weak recovery attempt pushed it north to 6,250 before it crumbled again in the past 24 hours to 5,550. This means that the index is down by over 18.5% in the past 5 days, and by nearly 8% in the last 24 hours alone.