Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana rally as analysts flag pause in ‘10 a.m. dump’ after Jane Street lawsuit

Bitcoin and other major cryptocurrencies jumped on Wednesday, adding more than $170 billion in market value, as analysts argued that the rebound was due to a lawsuit accusing Jane Street of insider trading.

The total crypto market cap rose roughly 8% to nearly $2.5 trillion, according to CoinGecko. Bitcoin briefly climbed to over $70,000, per The Block’s price page, while Ethereum gained more than 13% and Solana surged over 15%.

The move coincided with speculation that a long-suspected pattern of heavy selling around 10 a.m. Eastern time had abruptly stopped following news of the lawsuit.

"Jane Street was running an algorithm that dumped Bitcoin every single morning at 10 a.m. Every day. For months. Crashing the price. Liquidating retail. Buying back lower. Rinse and repeat," Bark, crypto commentator, wrote on X. "The second they got sued, it stopped. The 10 a.m. dump disappeared. Now Bitcoin just had the best day in months."

Onchain analyst Nonzee echoed that view. "For months, 10 a.m. meant one thing: the Jane Street dump," the digital asset researcher said. "Yesterday, they got hit with an insider trading lawsuit. Today at 10 a.m.? Bitcoin rips higher instead."

There is no public evidence showing Jane Street was systematically selling bitcoin at a fixed daily time. Still, the timing of Wednesday’s rally quickly fueled chatter across crypto social media that a long-feared source of steady selling pressure may have eased.

Jane Street suit 

The lawsuit was filed this week by the administrator overseeing Terraform Labs’ liquidation. The complaint alleges Jane Street used non-public information obtained from Terraform Labs insiders to front-run trades tied to the collapse of Do Kwon’s Terra-Luna ecosystem, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The Terra-Luna implosion in 2022 is widely seen as a key catalyst for the broader crypto downturn and bear market that followed. More recently, bitcoin had slid from an all-time high above $120,000 in October to below $65,000 before Wednesday’s rebound.

"The bogeyman is gone. That's the vibe right now on crypto Twitter and in the price action today," Bloomberg Senior ETF Analyst Eric Balchunas wrote on X, referencing speculation that the 10 a.m. selling pressure had faded. "Is eliminating it enough for a sustained rebound? I guess we'll find out."