The Bitcoin (BTC) contract on the cryptocurrency derivatives platform Lighter experienced a sudden and dramatic price drop on February 25, 2026. The price briefly fell to approximately $47,510, a significant deviation from the broader market price, due to a single large sell order executed directly on the Lighter order book.
Lighter officials addressed the incident on their official Discord channel, attributing the volatility to a "whale" investor who placed a large market sell order for 1,000 BTC. Due to the platform's relatively low liquidity, this order rapidly consumed all available buy orders, causing the price to plummet to around $47,000. The exchange provided a chart illustrating the sharp price wick on their platform.
Authorities from the platform emphasized that the movement was not caused by any platform vulnerability, cyberattack, or market manipulation. They explained the event was a result of normal order book dynamics in a low-liquidity environment, where large-volume market orders can have an outsized impact on price.
Furthermore, the statement clarified that liquidations on the platform are calculated based on the "mark price" rather than the price of a single trading candle. This means that whether stop-loss orders near these levels are triggered does not depend solely on such momentary price wicks, potentially limiting the cascading effect of the event.
