BTC dumps every morning at 10 AM, and for months, traders just watched it happen. Set your clock, open your chart, and there it was, Bitcoin bleeding right at the New York market open. Like clockwork. Worse, nobody could stop it.
Then, on February 23, 2026, something changed. A lawsuit landed against Jane Street, a $650 billion trading giant. And suddenly, the 10 AM sell-off was gone. Coincidence? The crypto world doesn’t think so.
The Pattern Behind the BTC Dumps That Drove Traders Crazy
For the better part of late 2025 and early 2026, BTC dumps hit the market almost every single trading day between 9:30 AM and 10:30 AM Eastern Time.
Retail traders noticed it first. Then, analysts started documenting it. For months, Bitcoin crashed within the first hour of the US market open, triggering liquidations and capping any attempt at a rally.
High-frequency trading firms, ETF rebalancing, and CME futures rolling, these are all normal explanations for morning volatility. But the repetition was too precise. Too consistent. Too profitable for someone.
One name kept coming up: Jane Street.
Who Is Jane Street?
Jane Street isn’t a household name outside Wall Street, but inside it, everyone knows who they are. The New York-based quant firm manages around $650 billion and trades pretty much everything, stocks, bonds, ETFs, options. Crypto was the next frontier, and they moved into it hard. They became key market-makers for Bitcoin spot ETFs after the January 2024 US approvals, which put them right at the center of daily BTC price action during US hours.
No hard evidence of manipulation was public at this point. But the suspicion was loud.
The Lawsuit That Shocked the Market
Todd Snyder had one job: clean up the wreckage of Terraform Labs. On February 23, 2026, he did something nobody saw coming. Snyder filed a lawsuit against Jane Street, accusing the firm of insider trading during the Terra/UST collapse back in May 2022. The Block and the Wall Street Journal both picked it up fast. And the timeline Snyder laid out in the filing is the kind of thing that makes your jaw drop.
On May 7, 2022, Terraform withdrew 150 million UST from the Curve liquidity pool. Ten minutes later, a wallet formally tied to Jane Street pulled out 85 million UST.
There’s more. A former Terraform employee, Bryce Pratt, had moved to Jane Street while allegedly maintaining ties with ex-colleagues at Terra. The lawsuit claims Jane Street used this insider access to front-run the collapse.
The administrator called it an abuse of relationships to manipulate the market during one of the biggest meltdowns in crypto history.
Jane Street denied everything. The firm called the lawsuit “opportunistic” and pointed fingers at Do Kwon, the Terra founder, already sentenced to 15 years in prison for his role in a multi-billion dollar fraud.
BTC Dumps Stop – and the Market Explodes
February 25, 2026. The day after the lawsuit breaks. Traders braced themselves for another brutal 10 AM drop. Instead, Bitcoin shot toward $70,000. Ethereum gained 13%. Solana jumped 15%. The total crypto market cap added $200 billion in under 48 hours.
The 10 AM BTC dumps simply stopped.
Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas captured the mood on X, saying the bogeyman had disappeared, and that was the feeling across Crypto Twitter that day.
Is This Actually Proof of Manipulation?
Not legally. Correlation is not causation. The 10 AM window is genuinely a period of heavy institutional activity, and BTC dumps during this time could have entirely legitimate explanations.
But the timing is hard to ignore. A firm faces a major insider trading lawsuit. The very pattern that sparked the manipulation theory instantly disappears. The market recovers sharply.
Traders called it “proof by absence.” Not a smoking gun – but very hard to dismiss.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin also got a boost from $258 million in fresh US ETF inflows around the same period, proving that organic demand can move prices just as fast. No conspiracy required.
Why do BTC dumps happen at 10 AM?
The 10 AM Eastern Time window lines up with US stock market open, ETF rebalancing, and CME futures activity, all creating natural selling pressure. Whether anyone amplified this deliberately is still under investigation.
What is Jane Street accused of?
Jane Street faces a civil lawsuit alleging it used insider information to profit from the Terra/UST collapse in May 2022. The firm denies all the allegations.
Did the 10 AM BTC dumps actually stop?
Yes, according to on-chain analysts and traders on X. The daily pattern broke immediately after the lawsuit was announced on February 23, 2026. The crypto market added $200 billion within two days.
Does Jane Street manipulated Bitcoin?
No conclusion has been reached. The lawsuit is ongoing, and no court has found Jane Street liable. The timing is suspicious, but markets are complex, and multiple factors drive price action.
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Disclaimer:
Look, we’re just journalists reporting the news here, not your financial advisors. Everything you read above is for information purposes only. Crypto is wild, unpredictable, and can absolutely wreck your savings if you’re not careful. Never invest money you can’t afford to lose. Seriously, we mean it. Do your own research, talk to actual licensed financial professionals, and remember that past performance means absolutely nothing when it comes to future results. The crypto market can turn on a dime, and what’s hot today might be toast tomorrow. We’re not responsible for your investment decisions, good or bad. Trade smart, stay safe, and don’t bet the farm on anything you read on the internet, including this article.
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