Jane Street Bitcoin Manipulation Fears Are Back as $19M in BTC Hits Exchanges

Wallets linked to Jane Street have deposited $19 million in Bitcoin to institutional-grade exchanges, and the crypto community is watching closely.

On-chain analyst Lookonchain flagged the move, confirming that in the past two hours, wallets associated with Jane Street deposited 270 BTC, worth approximately $19 million, to Bullish.com and LMAX Digital. The transfer hit around 10 a.m. UTC, exactly when U.S. markets opened.

Trader Ted (@TedPillows) corroborated the figures, noting the deposits totaled just under $19 million and that Jane Street is the same firm previously accused of manipulating Bitcoin’s price around the U.S. market open.

Ash Crypto was more direct on X: “IS JANE STREET PLANNING TO MANIPULATE BITCOIN AGAIN?“

Arkham on-chain data shows the transfers – 275 BTC to one address, 94.76 BTC to LMAX Digital, all within hours of each other.

What Is the Jane Street Bitcoin Manipulation Theory?

For months through late 2025 and into 2026, Bitcoin reliably sold off every morning at the U.S. market open. Traders watching the pattern gave it a name: the “10 a.m. slam.”

The theory alleged that Jane Street, acting as an authorized participant in BlackRock’s IBIT ETF, was algorithmically selling BTC at open, a pattern some blamed for driving Bitcoin down from $125,000 to as low as $62,000.

Then on February 23, Terraform Labs’ bankruptcy administrator filed a lawsuit accusing Jane Street of insider trading tied to the 2022 LUNA/Terra collapse. Within 48 hours, the 10 a.m. selling stopped and Bitcoin surged 6% toward $70,000.

Glassnode co-founders Jan Happel and Yann Allemann noted: “Jane Street Lawsuit gets made public, and miraculously the 10am $btc slam disappears.”

Allegations Against Jane Street

The Terraform case is not Jane Street’s only legal battle. In July 2025, India’s market regulator SEBI banned the firm from local markets and froze gains, citing a “morning pump, afternoon dump” scheme across 18 derivatives expiry days.

Not everyone in crypto agrees manipulation was ever happening.

Jane Street has denied all allegations, calling the Terraform suit “baseless, opportunistic claims.”

Economist Alex Kruger found that IBIT’s 10 a.m. returns closely mirrored Nasdaq performance rather than isolated Bitcoin selling.

CryptoQuant’s head of research Julio Moreno argued that Jane Street’s authorized participant activity is standard delta-neutral practice, fully within legal bounds.

How Low Will Bitcoin Fall?

Bitcoin has slipped below the $70,000 mark, currently trading at $69,998, down 3.15% over the last 24 hours. Whether today’s $19 million deposit from Jane Street wallets is connected to that move remains unconfirmed.

Also Read: Bitcoin Price Prediction: Will BTC Hold $70K as Iran-Israel Tensions Rise?