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Bitcoin's October, 2014 mini-crash due to single Russian sale?

By David Luhman on Thu, 10/09/2014 - 12:22

I'll speculate that the recent (5 Oct 2014) mini-crash in Bitcoin was due to a Russian "offshore" account. Look at the action in BTC address 159SCycgn8weAy2XGUEhD6V1RTFni7E3iq(hat tip to Pantera Bitflash).

The address was first funded with 35,323 BTC on 4 Apr 2013 -- right after the Cyprus banking crisis of March, 2013. Cyprus is (was) a known offshore site for Russian money.

The balance then remained stable until 5 Oct 2014 when it was emptied with two withdrawals of 13,409 and 20,000 BTC. This withdrawal coincided with increasing signs that a draft Russian law would impose fines on the use of Bitcoin in Russia.

The 5 Oct 2014 blockchain withdrawals coincide with a Bitstamp sell order of 31,000 BTC entered that same day.

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