Bitcoin (BTC) has once again shocked investors after a sharp sell-off Tuesday saw it quickly drop $1,000 in value during a single trading session.

Over the course of 30 minutes, beginning at 16:00 UTC on Sept 24, prices dipped below $8,000 — its lowest point since June 12 of this year. In addition, $30 billion has been drawn out of the market over a 24-hour period as investors sought to close their positions amid a frenzied sell-off.

Eyes are now firmly fixed on the 200-day moving average (MA) that would officially mark the start of a new bear market should a strong close below $8,311 occur.

The price drop may have been exacerbated by margin calls and contract liquidations on Bitmex, according to a previous report by CoinDesk.

In any case, BTC’s 2019 bull market hangs on a thread.

As can be seen above, BTC has begun to break down from a bearish descending triangle that had been noted by a large portion of the crypto Twitter community since as early as Sept 2.

Further, the $1,000 price drop flies in the face of Bakkt’s recent futures launch, which was supposed to be a bullish catalyst but has so far fallen short of expectations.

Technicals point to the possibility of a short-term bounce, courtesy of an extreme oversold RSI on the daily chart and weaker histogram bars below 0. However, a measured move (the drawdown from peak to trough within the triangle) adds scope for a continuation to prior June 2018 supports near $6,100.

Pressure is on buyers to hold the defensive and retain the official bullish status above the 200-day moving average at $8,311.

All prices below that point would add credence to a new bear market for the remainder of 2019.

Disclosure: The author holds no cryptocurrency at the time of writing.

Bitcoin image via Shutterstock; chart via Trading View