At 6:41 in the morning, the Valen dollar lost three percent of its value. Nobody panicked.
Not yet. The financial markets had opened less than an hour earlier. Currencies moved every day. Prices changed . Investors reacted.
People had become used to seeing numbers rise and fall on their screens.
Three percent was concerning. But not terrifying. At least, that was what the first analysts said.
Inside the National Reserve Bank, however, a young currency analyst stared at his monitor. His name was Samuel Orin.
He had worked in the reserve bank for six years. He had seen market crashes.
Political crises. International sanctions.
He had watched currencies collapse in other countries. This felt different.
Samuel clicked on the exchange data again.
The Valen dollar had dropped against the American dollar. Then the European crown.
Then the Asian yen. All within minutes.
He frowned. "That doesn't make sense."
His colleague looked over.
"What?" "The volume."
