Rumors resurfaced on December 12 claiming that Wall Street giant Jane Street caused yet another “10 a.m. Bitcoin dump.” The idea pops up every time $BTC BTC dips during U.S. trading hours, with social media users blaming ETF market makers for pushing the price down to profit from liquidations.
But when you look at the actual data, the story isn’t that simple.
What’s Behind the “10 a.m. Theory”?
The theory says Bitcoin tends to fall between 9:30–10:00 a.m. ET, right as U.S. markets open. Since Jane Street is a major player in spot Bitcoin ETFs, people assume firms like them intentionally spark these moves.
No regulator, exchange, or dataset has ever confirmed anything like coordinated dumping.
Market Data Shows No Early-Morning Dump
Bitcoin stayed steady around $92K–$93K during the U.S. open.
The actual drop below $90K happened later, closer to mid-day — not at 10 a.m.
Open interest also stayed mostly unchanged across major exchanges.
On CME, it even dipped slightly, which usually means risk-off behavior, not heavy short attacks.
If a big trading desk was hammering the market, open interest would show it.
This time, it didn’t.
Liquidations Tell the Real Story
Over the last 24 hours, crypto markets saw more than $430M in liquidations, mostly long positions.
Bitcoin made up roughly $68M, while ETH saw even larger wipeouts.
This looks like a leverage flush, not a targeted Bitcoin sell-off.
Spot Bitcoin ETFs also posted $77M in outflows on December 11, signaling a broader risk reduction.
Selling appeared across Binance, CME, OKX, Bybit — not concentrated in one place.
Why the Narrative Never Dies
U.S. trading hours naturally bring more volatility because of $ETH ETF activity, data releases, and institutional hedging.
Jane Street is highly visible, so traders often assume they’re behind every sharp move.
But today’s decline follows a classic crypto pattern:
high leverage → slight price slip → cascading liquidations → panic narrative.
