$68M Bought, $130M Liquidated: Was Bitcoin’s $94K Spike a Manipulation?

Bitcoin experienced a rapid surge from $91,000 to over $94,000 on Tuesday, catching many traders off guard and leading to claims of market manipulation due to the absence of any clear fundamental catalyst. Analysts pointed to large, coordinated purchases by entities like Wintermute, Coinbase, and BitMEX, suggesting an engineered move. Veteran traders noted warning signs such as thin order books and massive, clustered market buys, arguing that such vertical spikes often serve as 'liquidity hunts' to trigger forced liquidations of leveraged positions. The activity resulted in approximately $70 million in long liquidations followed by $61 million in short liquidations. However, not all analysts agreed, with some suggesting the rally was genuinely driven by positive US employment data released concurrently, which provided macro tailwinds for risk assets ahead of an expected FOMC rate cut. As of the report, Bitcoin had retreated slightly to around $92,500.

(Source：BeInCrypto)