Bitcoin (BTC) Pumped Above $90K Then Brutally Dumped: Was Binance Behind the Manipulation?

Claims from across social media have accused crypto currency exchange Binance of playing a major role in an alleged pump and dump, whereby the $BTC price rose to over $90,000 and then dumped back down to $87,000 in the space of an hour or so. Where does this leave Bitcoin now?

Bitcoin manipulation once again?

Source: TradingView

The 4-hour chart above shows the perfect candle wick that powered to the $90,340 horizontal resistance level before coming straight back down to the major trendline from where it had surged.

@NoLimitGains on X made one of the most viewed and commented posts on the speculation that Binance was up to something. This author posited that while leverage was mostly on the long side, Binance, Wintermute, Coinbase, and ETF-linked wallets made huge market buys in order to bring more long buyers in and hype the FOMO, before dumping it all in quick succession, wiping out the leveraged longs to the tune of $385 million.

While this isn’t definitive proof that Binance and the other large players are up to any foul play, this kind of price behaviour does not appear to be just random or normal. It does smack of some kind of manipulation, and the big money players are benefiting heavily from it, while keeping the $BTC price down.

Another author on X really spelt out what many on the platform are surmising:

Bitcoin will make its next major move soon

Source: TradingView

The daily chart shows that the $BTC price is either going to fall down through the bottom of the bear flag, or it is going to break up through the resistance levels and out of the top of the bear flag. All the while, time is running out, as the major ascending trendline converges with the downtrend line. By next week one or the other will have to give, as there are only a few days before the price arrives at the convergence point.

BOJ rate hike already priced in?

Source: TradingView

The weekly chart reveals that the $BTC price is still holding despite everything. On Friday, the Bank of Japan is expected to hike rates. This is only from 0.5% to 0.75%, but for Japan this would be the highest its rates have been for decades.

Across social media, doom is forecast for Bitcoin, given that Japan has the third largest economy in the world and that this will dry up liquidity for risk assets such as Bitcoin. 

However, it must surely be the case that this news is already well and truly priced in. Perhaps, given how news is used to move the market, there will be a big movement in the Bitcoin price on Friday, but this is more likely to be market makers using this news to their own ends. 

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.