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Bitcoin on Friday plummeted to its lowest level in more than three weeks, slipping below $22,000 amid an unexpected crypto sell-off in early European trading. 

Bitcoin dipped from $22,738 to below $21,453.59 at 12:17 p.m. ET, according to CoinDesk data. Earlier in the morning, the digital coin fluctuated between $21,500 and $22,000.

The price plunge came shortly after the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market cap blasted above the $25,000 level for the first time since June following a rise in U.S. stocks.

Ether was down to $1,72 8from $1,808 before leading a rebound. It had dropped again, falling further to $1,697.90 by 12:17 p.m. ET.

The sudden drop in price which also affected Binance Coin, Solana, and Cardano was not clear. 

“It’s not showing the pattern of a flash crash, as the assets didn’t immediately rebound sharply but sank even lower in the hours that followed,” said Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown. “It seems likely that is was as a result of a large sale transaction, in the absence of other more external factors.”

Streeter said it appeared Cardano made the first drop, followed by Bitcoin and Ether and then smaller coins like Dogecoin.

“This fresh chill has descended amid fears that the market is heading for a crypto winter,” she added. “Although at $21,800 Bitcoin is still some way off its June lows of under $19,000, volatility is once again wracking the market.”

The digital coins may also be following equities lower.

“US equity markets have pulled back since Wednesday’s release of the July Fed meeting minutes, the key takeaway being that the Fed likely won’t be finished with rate hikes until inflation is tamed across the board, with no guidance offered on future rate increases either,” Simon Peters, crypto market analyst at eToro, told CNBC.

“With the tight correlation between US equities and crypto in recent months I suspect this has filtered through to crypto markets and it’s why we are seeing the sell-off. The trend has also perhaps been exacerbated by liquidation of long positions on bitcoin perpetual futures markets.”