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Bitcoin's Morning Selloff Mystery: Are High-Frequency Traders Gaming the Market?

MarketDash Editorial Team
15 hours ago
Bitcoin has fallen 11.5% over the past month, but the real story might be a suspicious pattern of sharp selloffs happening precisely when U.S. markets open each day.

If you've been watching Bitcoin (BTC) lately, you might have noticed something weird. It climbs steadily through the Asian and European sessions, looking healthy enough, then—boom—the U.S. market opens and everything falls apart. Hours of gains vanish in minutes. Rinse and repeat.

Bitcoin has dropped 11.5% over the past month, and while weakening ETF inflows and slowing corporate accumulation get the headlines, this bizarre intraday pattern might actually be the main story.

The Morning Dump Theory

According to market commentator Bull Theory, Bitcoin has been hit with sharp selloffs right at the U.S. market open consistently since early November. The same pattern also showed up in Q2 and Q3. That's not random noise—that's a strategy.

Market observers, including ZeroHedge, are pointing fingers at high-frequency trading giant Jane Street. The suspected playbook goes like this: sell hard at the open, push Bitcoin's price into liquidity pockets where stop losses cluster, scoop up cheaper coins, then do it all over again. It's accumulation disguised as chaos.

For a firm with Jane Street's speed and capital, this could be a textbook way to build a massive position without pushing prices higher. They reportedly now hold around $2.5 billion worth of Bitcoin through BlackRock's IBIT ETF.

Why This Actually Matters

Here's the interesting part: Bull Theory argues these dips aren't driven by fundamentals falling apart. They're strategic trades from deep-pocketed players. Once the accumulation phase wraps up, Bitcoin could resume climbing.

Right now, Bitcoin is stuck near $90,000 as everyone waits for the Fed's decision. Traders are pricing in an 87% probability of a 25-basis point rate cut, but it's Jerome Powell's tone that will really matter. Sound hawkish and crypto could tumble. Sound dovish and we might see an immediate breakout.

Meanwhile, institutional demand keeps rolling. Strategy (MSTR) just picked up another 10,624 BTC, while retail investors remain mostly on the sidelines. Ethereum (ETH), XRP (XRP), and the broader altcoin market are treading water.

With the Federal Open Market Committee decision landing in less than 24 hours, expect volatility to spike. The morning selloff pattern might just get a lot more dramatic—or finally break.

Back to News

Bitcoin's Morning Selloff Mystery: Are High-Frequency Traders Gaming the Market?

MarketDash Editorial Team
15 hours ago
Bitcoin has fallen 11.5% over the past month, but the real story might be a suspicious pattern of sharp selloffs happening precisely when U.S. markets open each day.

If you've been watching Bitcoin (BTC) lately, you might have noticed something weird. It climbs steadily through the Asian and European sessions, looking healthy enough, then—boom—the U.S. market opens and everything falls apart. Hours of gains vanish in minutes. Rinse and repeat.

Bitcoin has dropped 11.5% over the past month, and while weakening ETF inflows and slowing corporate accumulation get the headlines, this bizarre intraday pattern might actually be the main story.

The Morning Dump Theory

According to market commentator Bull Theory, Bitcoin has been hit with sharp selloffs right at the U.S. market open consistently since early November. The same pattern also showed up in Q2 and Q3. That's not random noise—that's a strategy.

Market observers, including ZeroHedge, are pointing fingers at high-frequency trading giant Jane Street. The suspected playbook goes like this: sell hard at the open, push Bitcoin's price into liquidity pockets where stop losses cluster, scoop up cheaper coins, then do it all over again. It's accumulation disguised as chaos.

For a firm with Jane Street's speed and capital, this could be a textbook way to build a massive position without pushing prices higher. They reportedly now hold around $2.5 billion worth of Bitcoin through BlackRock's IBIT ETF.

Why This Actually Matters

Here's the interesting part: Bull Theory argues these dips aren't driven by fundamentals falling apart. They're strategic trades from deep-pocketed players. Once the accumulation phase wraps up, Bitcoin could resume climbing.

Right now, Bitcoin is stuck near $90,000 as everyone waits for the Fed's decision. Traders are pricing in an 87% probability of a 25-basis point rate cut, but it's Jerome Powell's tone that will really matter. Sound hawkish and crypto could tumble. Sound dovish and we might see an immediate breakout.

Meanwhile, institutional demand keeps rolling. Strategy (MSTR) just picked up another 10,624 BTC, while retail investors remain mostly on the sidelines. Ethereum (ETH), XRP (XRP), and the broader altcoin market are treading water.

With the Federal Open Market Committee decision landing in less than 24 hours, expect volatility to spike. The morning selloff pattern might just get a lot more dramatic—or finally break.