How Wall Street Took Over Bitcoin
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Jane Street is one of the most powerful trading companies on the planet. They surpassed Bank of America and Citigroup in trading desk revenue last year. Jane Street made more money from trading last year than Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, and Bank of America. They are estimated to be behind more than 10% of every stock trade in the United States. They are one of only four companies authorized to create and redeem shares of the biggest Bitcoin ETF, BlackRock's IBIT ETF.
Bitcoin dropped 2-3% at exactly 10:00 a.m. Eastern every trading day for the past few months. Theory claims Jane Street is behind this manipulation. Jane Street was banned from trading in India after regulators found them guilty of manipulating their stock market using a nearly identical strategy.
Now, one of our top stories, the Indian market regulator, SEBI has barred US trading firm Jane Street from trading in the country's derivatives market.
On February 23rd, Jane Street was sued for allegedly using insider information to trigger the collapse of $40 billion crypto project Terra, wiping out savings of millions and contributing to FTX's downfall. When the lawsuit became public, Bitcoin rose 10% in 48 hours, and the 10:00 a.m. drop stopped completely.
Jane Street's co-founder wired $7 million used to buy AK-47s, Stinger missiles, and grenades for a coup attempt in South Sudan (verified information). This video explains how the financial system controls Bitcoin's price, the asset meant to be outside its control, by showing who controls capital flow and how it affects Bitcoin's price.
Hi, my name is Andre Jick. Hope you're doing well. Come for the finance and stay for the market manipulation.
Fits into the financial industrial complex popularized by Simon Dixon.
Founded in 1999, headquartered in Manhattan, 3,000 employees, average employee makes $1.4 million a year. Run by a management committee of 30-40 people, no CEO. Structured as a quantitative trading firm, not a hedge fund, so no public disclosure requirements like hedge funds or banks. They control capital flow.
Buying Bitcoin via ETF like IBIT buys shares of a fund holding Bitcoin, not actual Bitcoin. Authorized Participants (APs) ensure ETF price tracks spot Bitcoin price. Jane Street is one of four APs for the biggest Bitcoin ETF.
- Exempt from parts of Reg SHO rule for short selling: can create and sell shares without borrowing restrictions.
- Filings show only long positions in IBIT (e.g., $800 million), not hedges via shorts, options, or derivatives. Actual exposure could be zero or negative, profiting from price drops, undisclosed because APs aren't required to report options, futures, or swaps.
Public invests in Pikachu ETF representing a real card in a vault. Only four companies (APs) can add/remove cards and create/destroy tickets. They report owning tickets but not bets against Pikachu's value. A dominant AP could sell huge amounts at low liquidity times to move price.
Starting around November 2024 (corrected from transcript error), Bitcoin dropped 2-3% around 10:00 a.m. Eastern (stock market open) every trading day, dozens of times. Triggered liquidations (forced sales from leveraged positions), creating negative feedback loop: price down → more liquidations → price down more.
Happened during lowest liquidity windows (small selling moves price a lot). Viral Twitter thread highlighted pattern.
- Buy spot Bitcoin at e.g. $68,000.
- Open huge short positions via derivatives/exchanges (bet on down).
- Sell huge Bitcoin fast at 10:00 a.m. low liquidity via algorithms → triggers panic/liquidations.
- Price crashes to e.g. $62,000. Short profits exceed spot loss (~5%).
- Close shorts for huge profit.
- Buy spot back at $62,000 (cheaper), creating buying pressure → short squeeze, FOMO, price up → repeat.
Results in months of sideways price action.
Lawsuit publicity stopped the pattern: Bitcoin up 10%, $200 billion added to crypto market, $213 million short liquidations in 24 hours, IBIT $250 million inflow in one day (ending 5 weeks of billions in outflows). Huge coincidence.
- Analyst Alex Krueger: Dips around 10:00 a.m. recover by 10:30; it's repricing from US market open/new info.
- CryptoQuant head of research: Buying spot/selling futures is delta-neutral strategy (profits regardless of direction), not unique to Jane Street.
July 2024 (corrected), India's SEBI (SEC equivalent) found Jane Street guilty of stock market manipulation via morning pump, afternoon dump: push prices up morning, reverse afternoon for profit. Froze $566 million, banned from India derivatives. Verified.
China caught Jane Street accounts manipulating silver prices via ETFs (major holder).
Filed February 23rd, not about Bitcoin dumps. Concerns 2022 Terra ($40 billion peak): LUNA and UST stablecoin (pegged $1 via algorithmic mint/burn of LUNA).
Former Terraform Labs intern joined Jane Street with confidential info, shared in group chat. Jane Street allegedly built strategy around collapse.
May 7, 2022: $85 million UST dumped on Curve DEX liquidity pool → depeg (to $0.99, $0.98, $0.95), spiral: more LUNA minted → LUNA crashes → more UST sold. Destroyed ecosystem in 72 hours: LUNA from $80 to zero, UST to zero.
Jane Street allegedly profited via insider info. No response yet.
Pattern across India, China, Terra, possibly Bitcoin. Co-founder (named in lawsuit) wired $7 million for South Sudan coup weapons (DOJ verified). Sam Bankman-Fried and colleagues worked at Jane Street before FTX.
Not just Jane Street; ETFs introduced APs with privileges: create/destroy shares, hidden hedges, low-liquidity price moves. Bitcoin securitization brought financial system control.
Bitcoin is one of the most important assets of my generation and it'll always be under attack.
Advice: Be careful buying Bitcoin via ETF (trusts the system Bitcoin replaces). Hold own keys in self-custody wallet: price moves can't liquidate or take your Bitcoin.
Not your keys, not your Bitcoin.
Promotes 4-hour self-custody guide for beginners (coupon: Andre4040 for 40% discount).
I want to verify.
Bitcoin works as honest money only in honest system; self-custody avoids waiting for permission.
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