Crypto Entrepreneur Says Jane Street Made $7 Billion From Manipulating Bitcoin's Price

• Mike Alfred alleged that Jane Street generated over $7 billion by manipulating Bitcoin prices at specific times.
• His comments have renewed focus on the “10 AM dump” theory tied to intraday Bitcoin price moves.
• The theory gained traction after a lawsuit linked to the 2022 Terra collapse became public.

Crypto entrepreneur Mike Alfred said on Monday that Jane Street, accused of market manipulation in the U.S. and India, made over $7 billion by manipulating Bitcoin (BTC) prices at specific times over the past year. 

“They estimate Bitcoin would have never dropped below $80,000 without their influence in the market,” Alfred wrote in a post on X. “They seem proud about it. Wow. Insane.” The investor and entrepreneur is known for founding crypto-focused companies like Digital Assets Data and serves on the board of Bitcoin mining firm Iren (IREN). 

His comments tie in with the theory of the “10 AM dump” – a theory which suggests Bitcoin prices were deliberately pushed lower at predictable times, particularly around the U.S. stock market open. 

What Is the ‘10 AM Dump’ Theory?

The theory gained traction following a lawsuit tied to the collapse of Terraform Labs. It accuses Jane Street of insider activity, which helped trigger the 2022 breakdown of TerraUSD and LUNA. 

Following the lawsuit, many in the crypto community took a closer look at Jane Street's trades. According to crypto analyst Justin Bechler, Bitcoin had shown repeated sharp sell-offs around 10 a.m. ET, when the stock market opens. According to him, while the mechanism is broken, Jane Street is not innocent of exploiting it for its own gains.

The firm is also facing allegations by India’s Securities and Exchange Board (SEBI) that it used options activity to influence the Bank Nifty index.

Not All Analysts Support The ‘10 AM Dump’ Theory

Some analysts dispute the theory that Bitcoin shows a recurring 10 a.m. sell-off pattern. K33 Research analyst Vetle Lunde said he examined minute-by-minute Bitcoin price data and did not find a consistent daily price drop at 10 a.m. as the theory claims. Bitcoin analyst Sunny Decree called the theory “fake news,” and economist Alex Kruger dubbed it a “viral and flawed conspiracy theory.”

However, others noted that the selloff patterns dissipated after Jane Street was sued.  “Jane Street lawsuit gets made public, and miraculously the 10 am BTC slam disappears”, said Glassnode co-founders, Jan Happel and Yann Allemann.

Bitcoin’s price rose 3.7% in the last 24 hours to around $69,900. Retail sentiment around the apex cryptocurrency on Stocktwits remained in ‘bearish’ territory over the past day, while chatter rose from ‘low’ to ‘normal’ levels. 

Read also: Bitcoin Nears $70K On US-Iran Ceasefire Talks, $270 Million Shorts Wiped Out

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