Bitcoin briefly showed $24,111 on Binance in a strong wick in the BTC/USD1 trading pair on Tuesday night before breaking back above $87,000 within seconds, according to data from the exchange.
The move did not appear on any other major BTC pairs and appeared isolated to $1, a stablecoin launched by World Liberty Financial, backed by the Trump family. Subsequently, the pair normalized and bitcoin once again traded close to the prevailing market prices.
These sudden “wicks” are usually caused by low liquidity – or a possible display problem – rather than a broader decline. New or less traded stablecoin pairs often have fewer market makers quoting tight prices, meaning the order book may be shallow.
A single major market sell-off, liquidation, or targeted automated trade through the pair can quickly wipe out bids, forcing the price to print well below the true market level until buy orders reappear.
These dislocations can also be caused by temporary price problems related to widening spreads, misquotes from a market maker, or trading robots reacting to abnormal prints.
During quieter hours, the effect can be amplified because there are fewer active participants to absorb the order flow and restore price parity.
While the wick may look dramatic on a chart, traders typically treat these prints as a microstructure event rather than a signal of bitcoin’s underlying direction.
Still, it highlights the risks of using thin pairs for execution, especially when stablecoins or trading lanes are still generating liquidity.
