The rapid and temporary price drop in the pair $PENGU /USDC, without significant reflection in the Pengu/USDT pair, can be explained by a combination of factors related to market structure and isolated actions. Here are the most likely causes:

1. Low Liquidity in the USDC Pair

- Sparse orders in the order book: If the Pengu/USDC pair has less liquidity (few buyers/sellers in the order book), a single large sell order ("market sell") can "knock down" the price by consuming all buy orders down to lower levels.

- Example: If there are only R$100 in buy orders between 0.014 and 0.010, a sale of R$150 will force the price to drop to 0.010 until the order is fully executed.

- Why was USDT not affected? The USDT pair likely has more liquidity, absorbing large orders without significant impact.

2. Action of a "Whale" or Speculative Trader

- Sudden and large sale: A large holder (whale) may have liquidated a significant position in the USDC pair, taking advantage of low liquidity to cause temporary panic or to buy Pengu cheaper right after (*wash trade*).

- Exploratory arbitrage: The trader may have forced a drop in the price of USDC to buy Pengu at an artificially low price and then sell it in the USDT pair (with stable price), profiting from the difference.

3. Trigger of Stop-Losses or Leverage

- Cascading effect: The initial drop may have triggered stop-loss orders from other traders, amplifying the decline for a few seconds. When these orders were executed, the price quickly recovered, as there were no real fundamentals for the drop.

- Leveraged positions: If the USDC pair has more traders using leverage, a small drop can liquidate positions, exacerbating volatility.

4. Execution Error or "Fat Finger"

- Accidental order: A trader may have typed an incorrect value (e.g., selling 10,000 Pengu instead of 1,000) or used a poorly configured bot, causing an unwanted execution.

- Quick recovery: After the error, the trader (or arbitrageurs) bought back Pengu at the low price, normalizing the price.

5. Arbitrage Between Pairs

- Correction by arbitrageurs: The drop in USDC created a discrepancy between the pairs (Pengu cheaper in USDC than in USDT). Arbitrageurs bought Pengu/USDC and sold in USDT, equalizing prices in seconds. This explains the almost immediate recovery.

How to Investigate?

1. Check the order book at the time of the event:

- Was there a large sell order in the USDC pair?

- How many price levels were "skipped" during the drop?

2. Analyze the candle volume:

- An abnormally high volume suggests a deliberate action (whale).

- Low volume indicates that liquidity was insufficient to absorb an average order.

3. See if there were liquidations:

- Platforms like TradingView or DeBank show if leveraged positions were closed during the period.

Conclusion

It is highly likely that a combination of low liquidity in the USDC pair and a large sell order (whether from a whale, human error, or a bot) caused the abrupt movement. The quick recovery occurred due to arbitrage between the pairs and the replenishment of liquidity by market makers after the event.

To avoid surprises, monitor pairs with low liquidity carefully and consider using limit orders instead of market orders in these cases.