Bitcoin’s price plummeted by over 10 percent on Thursday after a previously promising rally past the $7,000 price mark. The brief price spike led many bitcoin enthusiasts to speculate that BTC would build out a higher support.

Many also saw it as a testament to the market’s resistance against recent negative industry events, including bitcoin ETF disapprovals. And now, crypto pundits across the world are struggling to pinpoint the causative elements that led to the crazy 48-hour price-drop.

Bitcoin’s Value Affected by OTC Transactions

According to research undertaken by the Tabb Group in April, over the counter (OTC) markets constitute a significant portion of the cryptocurrency trading market. Overall, OTC markets are estimated to be about two or three times the size of regulated exchanges. Some OTC trading desks reportedly facilitate over $100 million in cryptocurrency trades in a day.

Traders are usually independently audited by brokers, and in most cases, no taxes are applied. This enables players to undertake high volume transactions without moving markets too much or drawing attention. Minimum ticket prices usually range between $75,000 and $250,000, which locks out most amateur speculators.

With the OTC market being of such a significant size, some analysts speculate that sell-off pressure on these markets, coupled with price manipulation moves may have led to the sudden decline of bitcoin prices. A sizeable bitcoin dump from OTC markets connected to exchanges is believed to have swayed prices.

That said, it is hard to verify this hypothesis because OTC markets work away from the prying eyes of industry observers and regulators. However, it is still worth considering that price manipulation in the cryptocurrency market is fairly easy to carry out, and techniques such as wash trading, which can be used to artificially inflate transaction activity are rampant.

According to the CEO and founder of LDJ Capital, David Drake, bitcoin prices will continue to experience a downward trend until the SEC approves a bitcoin ETF. The ETF will be instrumental in creating a safer trading ecosystem. The exec revealed this while speaking to The Independent.