Crypto Market Chaos: Crypto Community Quick to Blame Goldman Sachs, Silk Road Bitcoin Liquidation More Likely

While the crypto community may be quick to reference circumstantial evidence that Goldman Sachs may be terminating plans to launch a cryptocurrency trading desk, the current sell-off is closely linked to the movement of over 111,000 BTC from wallets associated with purported Silk Road operator Ross "Dread Pirate Roberts" Ulbricht.

Bitcoin, currently ranked #1 by market cap, is down 5.82% over the past 24 hours.

Notably, BitMEX trade activity is linked to the recent mysterious distribution of $1 billion in Bitcoin from a wallet associated with defunct black market platform Silk Road, signaling a potential market dump orchestrated by the party that controls the wallets.

Cryptocurrency traders and investors have been quick to blame recent CNBC coverage that announced the termination of Goldman Sachs' plans to launch a crypto trading desk.

The cryptocurrency market is highly reactive to negative press, colloquially referred to as "FUD," but a significant drop in value, such as the dump currently underway, has historically been associated with the actions of whales within liquidating large amounts of Bitcoin.

Rumors of a potential 16,000 BTC dump associated with the Mt. Gox scandal earlier this year catalyzed a $1,500 drop in Bitcoin prices, shaving billions off the total cryptocurrency market cap.

The recent movement of over 111,000 BTC from wallets associated with the Silk Road platform indicates that the current sell-off may be caused by a large amount of washed Bitcoin hitting exchanges.

Community-driven investigative efforts have also revealed that at least 3,000 BTC from the Silk Road hoard have been transferred directly to Binance.

Bitcoin movement from Silk Road-related wallets coincides with a recent price increase in Monero, which surged 10 percent directly after Silk Road funds hit Binance.

The manner in which Silk Road-related BTC is currently being placed within the market implies that the party responsible is actively in the process of mixing, hiding and selling the Silk Road holdings.