Claims that Wall Street trading firm Jane Street triggers a daily Bitcoin 'dump' at 10 a.m. resurfaced on December 12, when BTC experienced a sharp intraday drop.
Social media again questioned institutional investors and ETF market makers. However, a closer examination of the data shows that the situation is more complex.
What is the Jane Street 10 a.m. narrative?
According to the theory, Bitcoin is often sold around 9:30–10:00 ET, when the U.S. stock markets open. Jane Street is often mentioned because it is a significant market maker and an official participant in the U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF.
The claim states that these actors drive down prices to trigger liquidations and then buy back at a lower price. However, no authority, exchange, or data source has ever confirmed such coordinated activity.
Bitcoin futures data does not indicate aggressive selling
Bitcoin moved sideways today as U.S. markets opened, staying within a narrow range of about $92,000–$93,000. At 10:00 AM ET, there was no sudden or unusual selling spike.
A sharp drop occurred later, closer to the U.S. midday. BTC dipped briefly below $90,000 before stabilizing, indicating delayed pressure, not movement related to market opening.
The Open Interest of Bitcoin futures on the largest exchanges remained generally stable. The total amount was almost unchanged throughout the day, indicating that no new large short positions were opened.
At CME, which is the most important platform for institutional trading, Open Interest decreased moderately. This pattern usually indicates a reduction in risk or hedging, not aggressive selling-oriented trading.
If a large trading house had caused a coordinated dump, there would usually be a sharp spike or crash visible in Open Interest. That did not happen this time.
Liquidations explain the movement
Based on liquidation data, a clearer explanation emerges. In the last 24 hours, total liquidations in crypto exceeded $430 million, most of which were long position liquidations.
Over $68 million in liquidations were recorded for Bitcoin alone, with even larger amounts for Ethereum. This suggests that leveraged positions were unwound more broadly in the markets, not just in Bitcoin.
When the price drops below key levels, forced liquidations can accelerate the drop. This often results in a sharp decline without a single 'big seller'.
Especially, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded an outflow of $77 million on December 11, after two days of gains. The day's brief price shock was strongly reflected in this movement.
The movement was spread across several exchanges, such as Binance, CME, OKX, and Bybit. No concentrated selling pressure was observed on a single trading platform or instrument.
This is a crucial observation, as coordinated manipulation usually leaves a mark. The situation reflects a broad, inter-market unwinding of risk positions that is typical of automation.
Why the Jane Street narrative keeps coming back
Bitcoin's volatility often accumulates during U.S. market hours due to ETF trading, macroeconomic news, and institutional portfolio changes. Due to these structural factors, price movements may appear as recurring patterns.
Jane Street's visibility as an ETF market maker makes it an easy target for rumors. However, the role of a market maker is protection and inventory management – not unilateral price strikes.
Today's movement repeated a familiar pattern in the crypto markets: leverage increases, price dips, liquidations follow, and stories spread.
