Bitcoin’s price jumped on Tuesday during U.S. trading hours, swiftly climbing from $91,000 to $94,000. At first glance, this might not seem remarkable; the crypto market is known for its volatile movements. However, this sudden surge immediately sparked speculation. According to several analysts, there was no clear news or economic catalyst to explain the price jump, raising the question: was this a case of market manipulation?
Analysts Speak of Manipulation #
On social media, particularly on X, several crypto traders expressed their surprise. Trader Vivek Sen posted a chart of the Bitcoin price and openly questioned why the price shot up without any apparent reason. “No major news, no announcements, why is Bitcoin suddenly rising?” he wrote.
DeFi researcher TRACER went a step further, pointing directly at market maker Wintermute. According to him, the company bought $68 million worth of Bitcoin in one hour with the goal of liquidating short positions. “Pure manipulation,” he stated.
Analyst Wimar.X also claimed to have evidence of coordinated action by large players. He named Wintermute, Coinbase, Bitmex, Binance, and Bitfinex as major buyers, sharing statistics on the massive inflow of bitcoins to these entities.
🚨 BREAKING
THE EXACT REASON WHY THE MARKET JUST PUMPED:
WINTERMUTE BOUGHT 8,756 BTC COINBASE BOUGHT 8,241 BTC BITMEX BOUGHT 7,610 BTC BINANCE BOUGHT 4,500 BTC BITWISE BOUGHT 3,857 BTC BITFINEX BOUGHT 3,003 BTC
THIS WAS A COORDINATED MANIPULATION!
— Wimar.X (@DefiWimar) December 9, 2025
Other commentators described it as a classic ‘pump’. Trader NoLimit characterized the rise as anything but organic: thin order books would have made it relatively cheap to move the price, after which large players artificially pushed the price up with massive purchases. This would then create FOMO (fear of missing out) among smaller investors, who jump in afraid of being left behind.
After that, the big players would sell their coins at a high price again. According to NoLimit, this pattern has been visible more often in recent months, with sharp rises that almost always ended in equally sharp falls.
Liquidity Hunt #
A possible explanation for this is a so-called liquidity hunt. Large players try to liquidate both long and short positions by deliberately moving the price up and down. Because traders use leverage, their positions can be closed with relatively small price movements. By cleverly playing on these levels, manipulators can make a profit at the expense of other traders.
However, not everyone agrees with this interpretation. On-chain analyst Darkfost points out that positive U.S. employment data actually gave Bitcoin an impetus. The prospect of a potential interest rate cut would also have made investors more optimistic. According to him, the price increase can be perfectly explained from a macroeconomic perspective, and there need not have been any manipulation.
Whether it was a coordinated action or simply market dynamics: the rise underscores how sensitive the crypto market remains to both large players and external economic signals.