Bitcoin Crashes to Weekend Low of $73,510: What Triggered the Sudden Drop?

Bitcoin dropped sharply to $73,510 during Sunday’s trading session as markets reacted to growing uncertainty surrounding Nvidia. The decline occurred roughly 100 minutes after the controversy involving the chipmaker became public, while thin weekend liquidity may have magnified the selling pressure.

BTC/USD tumbled from $75,607 to $73,510 in approximately ten minutes, marking its lowest price since August 21. The most intense selling took place at 21:55 UTC (4:55 p.m. in New York), when Bitcoin lost 1.9% in just one minute on Binance.

The Nvidia controversy quickly became a possible explanation for the sudden decline. According to CNBC, Nvidia’s board had opened an independent investigation into CEO Jensen Huang’s alleged relationship with a woman suspected by U.S. intelligence agencies of passing information to Beijing. These allegations remain unconfirmed.

Huang reportedly acknowledged the relationship in an email to company employees.

Bitcoin’s recovery has remained relatively weak following the flash crash. By Monday morning, BTC was trading near $74,184 on Binance, approximately 2.2% below its price before the Nvidia report surfaced. The decline also extended Bitcoin’s losing streak to five consecutive weeks. Its weekly candle closed at $74,851, below the opening level of $78,354.

The sudden move has raised questions about whether the Nvidia controversy directly triggered Bitcoin’s $2,000 decline or whether limited weekend liquidity amplified an existing wave of selling.

Nvidia Headlines Appeared Before Bitcoin’s Sudden Sell-Off

Bitcoin did not immediately react to the Nvidia report, suggesting that the headline alone may not explain the timing of the crash. CNBC published its investigation report at 20:12 UTC on Sunday (3:12 p.m. Eastern time), when BTC was trading around $75,880 on Binance.

For approximately 90 minutes, Bitcoin remained relatively stable. By 21:44 UTC, its price had slipped to $75,607, representing a decline of just 0.4% from the level recorded when the report appeared.

The market downturn accelerated shortly afterward, with Ethereum experiencing an even sharper decline. Between 21:50 and 21:55 UTC, ETH dropped from $2,213 to $2,060 on Binance, marking a 6.9% loss in five minutes. Bitcoin declined 2.4% during the same period.

This sequence points toward a possible liquidation cascade involving leveraged traders. When prices move below predetermined liquidation levels, exchanges automatically close positions to limit further losses. These forced transactions add selling pressure, potentially pushing prices lower and triggering additional liquidations.

The Nvidia controversy may nevertheless have contributed to the broader risk-off sentiment. Nvidia is a major influence on the artificial intelligence sector, while Bitcoin has increasingly moved in tandem with AI-related equities in recent weeks. Thursday’s semiconductor stock sell-off had already pushed BTC below its 200-day moving average.

Because traditional stock markets were closed on Sunday, cryptocurrency markets provided investors with an immediate opportunity to reduce risk following the Nvidia headlines.

Geopolitical developments added another layer of uncertainty. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio described Iran’s demands as “outrageous” and indicated that diplomatic negotiations had failed to produce meaningful progress.

Weekend Liquidity May Have Magnified Bitcoin’s $2,000 Drop

Low trading activity appears to have increased the severity of Bitcoin’s weekend correction. Binance data covering the previous 12 months shows that approximately $24 million in BTC typically changes hands during an average weekend hour. By comparison, weekday hourly volume averages around $48 million.

An examination of Bitcoin’s hourly price movements over the same period identified 29 instances when BTC declined at least 2.5% below its opening price within an hour.

Sunday’s sell-off generated approximately $180 million in trading volume during the affected hour. This was the second-lowest figure among those 29 declines and significantly below their median volume of $366 million.

The data suggests that relatively limited selling activity was enough to generate a substantial price decline. At 21:55 UTC, Binance recorded approximately $75 million in Bitcoin transactions within a single minute, nearly three times the volume typically traded during an entire weekend hour.

However, weekend trading does not necessarily increase the frequency of Bitcoin crashes. Only six of the 29 identified hourly declines occurred during weekends, slightly below the 29% proportion of total trading hours that fall on Saturdays and Sundays.

The bigger issue is market depth. When fewer participants are active, even moderate selling can have a much greater impact on prices because there are fewer buyers available to absorb the orders.

The analysis also excludes futures trading, meaning it does not capture the full extent of leveraged liquidations that may have contributed to Sunday’s decline.

Overall, the Nvidia controversy and geopolitical uncertainty may have encouraged traders to reduce their exposure, while thin weekend liquidity allowed the selling pressure to produce a much sharper Bitcoin correction.

Bitcoin Price Analysis: Can BTC Recover Above $75,000?

Bitcoin initially attracted buyers around $73,510, climbing to $75,735 within two hours of reaching its weekend low. However, the rebound lost momentum, with BTC subsequently retreating toward $74,184.

The daily technical structure remains bearish. Bitcoin is trading below all three of its daily exponential moving averages (EMAs), which place greater emphasis on recent price movements. The cryptocurrency also lost its 200-day EMA on Thursday, weakening its longer-term trend outlook.

Key resistance levels:

• $75,735: Sunday’s rebound high and immediate resistance.
• $76,490: The 200-day EMA, representing an important recovery barrier.
• $77,607: The 100-day EMA and the next resistance level.

Important support levels:

• $73,510: Sunday’s lowest price and immediate support.
• $73,027: The August 21 low and the next potential downside target.

A sustained move above $75,735 could indicate improving buying pressure. A subsequent breakout above the 200-day EMA near $76,490 would strengthen the recovery outlook.

However, if sellers regain control and push BTC below $73,510, the next important downside level would be around $73,027.