The movement of the leading cryptocurrency appears “very manufactured,” according to JAN3 CEO Samson Mow, reports Cointelegraph.
“It seems we are witnessing a ‘suppression’ of the price. […] You might call it consolidation, but it appears very ‘engineered.’ A very narrow range, which overall looks unnatural,” the expert explained.
Bitcoin has been trading sideways between $92,400 and $106,500 since December 18, 2024. Following the inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump on January 20, prices reached a historic high of $109,000, only to return to the previous range, as noted by the publication.
The JAN3 CEO pointed to the inflow of funds into ETFs and purchases by corporations like Strategy, which openly acquire “multiples of mined bitcoins.”
“If the price isn’t moving despite institutions and retail investors accumulating coins, then someone must be offloading them,” Mow observed.
According to the expert, last year “structural sellers” liquidated bitcoin positions due to bankruptcies and restructuring, but this period is largely over.
On February 18, 2025, the defunct exchange FTX initiated the first wave of creditor repayments and announced another round of payments in May.
Compensations are based on the bitcoin price at the time of the platform’s bankruptcy, when the asset was trading near $20,000.
The JAN3 CEO believes there is a market participant capable of sustaining sales of coins by FTX clients, shaping the current market conditions, as evidenced by the lack of growth in the digital gold’s price.
Earlier, K33 noted the “lethargic state” of the bitcoin market.
Experts at CryptoQuant have concluded that the leading cryptocurrency might enter a new bearish phase.
Previously, CoinDesk identified three risks to bitcoin losing the $90,000 level.