Analysts Reject Claims That Jane Street Manipulated Bitcoin Prices

Jane Street is a New York-based quantitative trading firm and market maker with a long-standing presence in ETFs, commodities and derivatives. Its emergence as the largest disclosed holder of BlackRock’s iShares Silver Trust (SLV), alongside its sizable share and options positions, has raised questions over whether it could influence silver prices. No regulator, however, has determined that the firm manipulated the market.

Jane Street increased its SLV holdings to about 20.7 million shares in the fourth quarter of 2025 from 41,193 shares, valuing the position at roughly $1.3 billion. The news emerged in late February 2026. Silver subsequently fell more than 30%, from a January high of about $121 an ounce to around $83 on March 3, wiping an estimated more than $1.4 trillion from its market value.

Jane Street is a U.S. quantitative trading firm and ETF market maker that provides liquidity for spot Bitcoin ETFs. Its algorithms have drawn scrutiny over concentrated selling pressure around 10 a.m. during U.S. trading. Analysis suggests, however, that ETF creation, redemption and hedging mechanisms may constrain price discovery, making the firm a focal point of allegations that it triggers a "10 a.m. sell-off."

The latest reports say there is currently no public evidence that Jane Street manipulated Bitcoin and that the controversy is more likely rooted in ETF market structure. The firm is also facing a lawsuit alleging insider trading involving Terraform Labs. Available information does not disclose the filing date, the amount at issue or the specific trading period, and the allegations remain subject to judicial proceedings.

In May 2022, Terraform Labs' algorithmic stablecoin UST lost its peg and LUNA collapsed, wiping out about $40 billion in market value. Liquidation administrator Todd Snyder sued Jane Street in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on February 23, 2026, alleging that the firm obtained nonpublic information, traded ahead of the market and avoided more than $200 million in losses. Jane Street denied the allegations.

After the lawsuit became public, the market's customary selling pressure around 10 a.m. Eastern Time, or 11 p.m. in Taipei, appeared to ease. On February 25, 2026, Bitcoin surged from about $63,900 to above $69,000 intraday, adding more than $170 billion to the total crypto market capitalization in a single day. Ether gained more than 13% and Solana more than 15%. However, there is currently no evidence that Jane Street manipulated prices during that time window.

U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs use authorized participants, or APs, to create and redeem shares, helping keep fund prices close to net asset value. Jane Street, JPMorgan and Citadel Securities all serve in that role. APs can settle in kind and hedge with futures, meaning buying demand may not immediately reach the spot market. Opening-hour volatility therefore affects price discovery but does not by itself amount to manipulation.

On February 23, 2026, the Terraform Labs bankruptcy administrator sued Jane Street, alleging it used inside information to avoid more than $200 million in losses before Terra’s 2022 collapse. Bitcoin rose more than 6% on February 25 and approached $70,000, temporarily ending the 10 a.m. declines. However, Alex Krüger calculated that IBIT had gained a cumulative 0.9% between 10 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. since January 1, moving in tandem with the Nasdaq and showing no evidence of systematic manipulation.

TerraUSD (UST) was designed to maintain its $1 peg through an algorithm and LUNA, but it lost the peg in May 2022, wiping out about $40 billion in Terra ecosystem assets. Terraform Labs' liquidator now alleges that Jane Street used internal liquidity information to trade ahead of the market, bringing one of the crypto industry's biggest collapses back into the judicial spotlight.

Liquidator Todd Snyder filed suit in federal court in New York on Feb. 23, 2026, alleging that Jane Street withdrew another 85 million UST within 10 minutes of learning that Terraform planned to remove 150 million UST from Curve. After the lawsuit became public, market speculation spread that selling pressure at 10 a.m. U.S. Eastern time had disappeared. Bitcoin rebounded about 10%, from roughly $62,000 to nearly $70,000, but the manipulation claims have not been substantiated.

The TerraLuna ecosystem collapsed in May 2022, inflicting heavy losses on the cryptocurrency market. Terraform Labs has now sued quantitative trading firm Jane Street, while claims are circulating that its algorithms were involved in coordinated selling. The claims remain allegations and have yet to be resolved through legal proceedings.

A recent report said Bitcoin had rebounded above $66,000 but did not specify when the price move occurred. The rally came amid rumors that Jane Street used trading algorithms to push prices lower, shifting attention to whether its trading was linked to the TerraLuna collapse in May 2022 and how the lawsuit will unfold.