Observation on Bitcoin selling at market open: Jane Street faces scrutiny, but data indicates otherwise

Bitcoin's recovery toward $70,000 in the last 24 hours has reignited a known debate in crypto markets: whether Wall Street firms within the spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) ecosystem now exert excessive influence over price discovery. Jane Street, the quantitative trading firm acting as a major ETF intermediary, is currently under focus due to a fresh lawsuit related to the 2022 collapse of Terraform Labs. Major institutions like Wells Fargo, Cantor Fitzgerald, and Jane Street have accumulated billions in Bitcoin-focused ETFs and equities. We observe that traders on social media linked Bitcoin's recent rally to a specific pattern. They noted that sharp intraday selling around the US market open seemed to fade after the lawsuit became public. This theory spread rapidly because it aligns with two prevalent sentiments: distrust of large trading firms and concern over Bitcoin's integration into traditional finance. However, we find the evidence for a coordinated Bitcoin suppression program remains thin. The episode demonstrates that the structure of spot Bitcoin ETFs obscures the distinction between genuine spot demand and market-making activities like hedging and arbitrage. In this context, the Jane Street issue extends beyond a single entity. It focuses on how Bitcoin's institutional infrastructure affects price discovery, raising questions about whether markets are becoming more efficient or increasingly opaque. We should monitor these structures closely to understand long-term impacts.