Cryptocurrency: Bitcoin Crashes Below US$ 15,750, 'Arbitrage Opportunity'?

The cryptocurrency market crashed today, as Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency plunged around US$ 15,750, on November 16. Other large cryptocurrencies are falling the trend. Ethereum was quoted at US$ 1,216.96, down by 2.78%. Yesterday, Ethereum closed at US$ 1,251.74. Litecoin was quoted at US$ 57.82, down by 0.22%, Dogecoin was quoted at US$ 0.0853 down by 1.35%, and Cardano was quoted at US$ 0.3300 down 1.87% today, till last traded.

Yesterday, Bitcoin closed at US$ 16,880.70' in the last 5 days fell by 2.72%. In the past 1 month, it has dropped by 14.13%. Additionally, in the last 6 months, Bitcoin plunged by 44.54%.

A CoinDesk report mentioned today, "Analysts said these entities took short or bearish bets in bitcoin (BTC) futures listed on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), causing backwardation, where futures prices are lower than the spot price. And the market anomaly has created an 'arbitrage opportunity' - a strategy aimed at profiting from price gap in different markets." "Institutional activity in CME has blossomed, but activity has been heavily concentrated towards the short side," Vetle Lunde Arcane Research, in a clients-note stated. "CME's November contract has traded at an extreme discount to spot in the last week."

Additionally, commenting on losing money on Bitcoin, a Bloomberg article said, "A study of how retail investors use cryptocurrency exchange apps suggests about three-quarters have lost money on Bitcoin, according to the Bank for International Settlements. Data spanning 95 countries from 2015 to 2022 indicates the vast majority of app downloads occurred when Bitcoin's price was above $20,000, the working paper from the Basel, Switzerland-based BIS says. The analysis says if we assume each new user bought $100 of Bitcoin in the month they installed the app and each month thereafter, 81% would have lost money."