Bitcoin’s recent price weakness has triggered claims about jane street market manipulation and the limits of transparency in the general ETF structure.
Over the last few days, different analysts and traders have used their social media platforms to discuss the lawsuit connected to the 2022 collapse of Terraform Labs. The resurfaced allegations have brought Jane Street, a quantitative trading firm, into the picture.
According to commentators, the quantitative may have influenced Bitcoin’s price through the role it plays in managing the US Bitcoin ETF. So far, there have been three major arguments that have centered on the case.
The first is the alleged insider trading during the 2022 TerraUSD collapse; the second are the claims of systematic 10 a.m. Eastern Time Bitcoin sell-offs in 2024 and 2025, and finally, there have been questions about whether the disclosed ETF holdings truly reflect an exposure to Bitcoin.
Terraform Allegations Against Janestreet
The online scrutiny follows a lawsuit filed by Terraform’s court-appointed administrator, the company behind TerraUSD and its token LUNA. According to the lawsuit, Jane Street used nonpublic information to adjust its exposure during the 2022 May BTC crash. This manipulation allowed the firm to erase about $40 billion from the Terra ecosystem.
Jane Street denied the allegations and described the claims as baseless. For now, the case remains unresolved, and no court has determined liability.
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The Rising Concerns of ETF Transparency and Institutional Market Influence
The lawsuit caused many crypto investors to question whether institutional trading strategies may have amplified stress in Terra’s ecosystem.
According to some commentators, Jane Street’s disclosed holdings in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) could conceal a net short exposure to Bitcoin. So basically, because the firm is an authorized participant in IBIT, it can easily create and redeem ETF shares and arbitrage price differences between the fund itself and the spot market.
Additionally, other influencers have alleged that recently, Bitcoin has experienced a continuous drop around 10 a.m. Eastern Time, which directly coincides with the US stock market opening time. Many have suggested that it is possible that there was coordinated selling during that time, causing liquidations and continuous suppressed price levels.
In all, there are no current and legitimate findings that prove that Jane Street manipulated Bitcoin’s price. The legal case related to Terraform Labs is ongoing, and other claims about ETF-based suppression remain allegations circulating primarily on social media till further notice or proved otherwise.
Source: krugermacro
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