The global crypto scenario has drastically changed since Mar. 12’s Bitcoin flash crash, when the market lost around 50% capitalization over a 24-hour period. It seems that prominent crypto exchange BitMEX has taken a major hit in this scenario. As per reports, BitMEX users are now looking at alternative exchanges.
Joe McCann, crypto trader and AI/cloud specialist at Microsoft, reported that exchanges like Binance, OKEx, and Huobi Global have surpassed BitMEX’s volume of derivatives. While BitMEX has sold $1.46 billion worth of derivatives trades over the past 24 hours, Huobi has sold $2 billion worth over the same period of time.
Moreover, the cryptoanalysis platform TokenAnalyst has reported that BitMEX has witnessed more withdrawals than deposits over the last two weeks. This has resulted in a negative net flow of -67,000 BTC which essentially amounts to $400 million.
Reasons for the downfall
While some argue that the exchange’s potential move to add KYC support could have resulted in the negative trend, some are of the opinion that the latest DDoS attack on BitMEX on March 12th is the possible reason. Interestingly, it was around the same time as March 12th, the volatility peaked in the crypto market and investors were most prone to liquidation.
We have identified the root cause of two DDoS attacks at 02:16 UTC and 12:56 UTC, 13 March 2020. For a full account of what happened and how we are responding, please refer to our blog: https://t.co/RS7YtX1xOD
— BitMEX (@BitMEXdotcom) March 17, 2020
Contradictions
Despite the negative trend of people opting for other exchanges, Alexa’s data reflect that BitMEX has received more clicks on its website since March 12. The website’s global internet engagement has increased by almost 2% as of 27th March.
