This article was published on May 6, 2019

Bitfinex is skewing Bitcoin’s price so much, it’s now being ignored by CoinMarketCap

Bitfinex reports Bitcoin's price at a 5 percent premium


Bitfinex is skewing Bitcoin’s price so much, it’s now being ignored by CoinMarketCap

Cryptocurrency market information website CoinMarketCap is no longer including Bitfinex’s Bitcoin price in its weighted average due to skewed data.

Bitcoin’s weighted average price is $5,696.94 (at the time of writing). However, on Bitfinex, it’s listed at $6,009.98.

To save you the math, that’s a difference of $313.04, or put otherwise, a 5.5-percent premium over the market average.

CMC weighted average price for Bitcoin
Credit: CoinMarketCap
CMC Bitfinex’s Bitcoin price

The little asterix next to Bitcoin’s Bitfinex price – spotted by Chepicap – denotes that it’s no longer being included in CMC’s calculation of the Bitcoin’s average price, though. Being so much higher, it was skewing the average.

Other exchanges generally report Bitcoin’s price well within 1 percent of the market average.

At the time of writing, on OKEx Bitcoin is trading at $5,700.31 (0.05 percent higher than market average). On Binance, the cryptocurrency is trading at $5,701.44 (0.07 percent over the market average).

Bitfinex and Tether woes bump Bitcoin’s price

The news swiftly follows the announcement from the New York State Attorney General that it’s investigating Bitfinex, Tether, and their parent company iFinex for what appears to be a series of bank transfers to cover-up an $850 million loss.

Analysts have also said recently that Bitfinex’s Tether woes could spell the start of a bearish phrase for Bitcoin. Indeed, after the news broke the market dropped.

Bitfinex’s skewed price data surely won’t do the market any favors either.

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