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Kraken CEO Says Ether Flash Crash Down to Trading, Not System Glitch
Jesse Powell suggested an ether whale might have "decided to dump his life savings."
Updated Sep 14, 2021, 12:15 p.m. Published Feb 23, 2021, 3:12 p.m.
The CEO of the Kraken cryptocurrency exchange has said a sudden 50% drop in ether's price on the exchange Monday was caused by an extreme sell-off and not any system glitch.
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- “There doesn’t seem to be any evidence of a trading-engine malfunction," Jesse Powell, told Bloomberg Television on Tuesday. "It seems like trades processed accurately.”
- Powell added that the crash could have been caused by a single big investor who "decided to dump his life savings."
- Ether crashed to $700 at 14:20 UTC (9:20 a.m. ET) Monday, having been north of $1,600 only minutes earlier.
- The drop occurred amid a broader sell-off of crypto assets that saw ether drop as low as $1,546, according to the CoinDesk 20, but nothing as dramatic as was witnessed on Kraken's platform.
- When contacted by CoinDesk soon after, Kraken noted ether prices had dropped on multiple venues, but did not comment on its far lower price.
- Kraken is unlikely to roll back trades, Powell advised Tuesday, but hinted at offering some kind of compensation for clients affected.
See also: New Kraken Venture Fund to Target Early-Stage Crypto, Tech Startups
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