Bitcoin Price Dips 3% on OKEx News, Analysts Aren't Too Worried

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Oct 16, 2020 at 11:19 UTCUpdated Oct 16, 2020 at 14:02 UTC.Bitcoin's price dropped earlier on Friday after crypto exchange OKEx suspended withdrawals, but analysts told CoinDesk they don't think significant further losses are likely.

The top cryptocurrency by market value fell around 3% in the 30 minutes to 04:30 UTC, according to CoinDesk's Bitcoin Price Index.

The move happened after OKEx announced an indefinite suspension of withdrawals due to one of its private key holders being out of contact with the exchange, reportedly because they are being held by police.

While market sentiment may remain temporarily weak after the news, a price crash looks unlikely.

Vishal Shah, an options trader and founder of Polychain Capital-backed derivatives exchange Alpha5, suggested the news may place the OKEx trading venue in a bad light but have little affect on bitcoin's reputation.

Bitcoin has shown resilience to bigger negative news over the past few weeks.

"In my opinion, prices will recover because the latest OKEx issue is not related to hacking or shutting down the exchange," Ki Young Ju, CEO of South Korean analytics firm CryptoQuant, told CoinDesk in a Telegram message.

OKEx held 201,981 bitcoin in its wallets as of Thursday, according to Glassnode data.

Similar action may unfold over the next few days, though bitcoin is vulnerable to any stock markets drops over coronavirus fears.

At press time, bitcoin is changing hands near $11,324, representing a 1.6% decline on the day.

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