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Bitcoin (BTC<\/a>) failed to hit $100,000 during the 2021 bull market because defunct exchange FTX kept selling BTC, analysis claims.<\/p>\n In an X (formerly Twitter) post on Oct. 12, Joe Burnett, senior product marketing manager at Bitcoin financial services firm Unchained, joined voices arguing<\/a> that FTX executives suppressed BTC price strength.<\/p>\n As the trial of former FTX CEO Sam \u201cSBF\u201d Bankman-Fried continues, new testimony paints a picture<\/a> of potential market manipulation.<\/p>\n This week, Caroline Ellison, former CEO of affiliated firm Alameda Research, reportedly told the court that Bankman-Fried asked her to sell BTC should its spot price breach $20,000. This was done using FTX customer funds, which neither had the right to deploy.\u00a0<\/p>\n AUSA: What are these? \u2014 Inner City Press (@innercitypress) October 11, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Reacting, Burnett suggested that due to the scale of the operations involved, the entire Bitcoin bull run could have been adversely affected.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cAlameda was insolvent even during the bull market. It appears they used (or \u2018borrowed\u2019) FTX customer bitcoin and other customer assets to buy \u2018Sam coins\u2019 (FTT, Solana, and Serum),\u201d he wrote, referring to reports that Ellison\u2019s firm had a negative value of $2.7 billion in 2021.<\/p>\n \u201cWithout this fake sell pressure, maybe bitcoin would have hit $100,000 in 2021.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n During the bull run of 2021, BTC\/USD still reached an all-time high of $69,000<\/a>;\u00a0but at the time, predictions called for much larger numbers.<\/p>\n Related:\u00a0Sam Bankman-Fried blamed Binance for balance sheet leak to media: Court evidence<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Among those was the then-popular Stock-to-Flow (S2F) Bitcoin price model, the creator of which \u2014 the pseudonymous entity known as PlanB \u2014 gave a BTC price target of up to $288,000<\/a> during the current halving cycle.<\/p>\n The \u201cworst case scenario,\u201d he continued, was $135,000 by December 2021.<\/p>\n Bitcoin is below $34K, triggered by Elon Musk’s energy FUD and China’s mining crack down.<\/p>\n There is also a more fundamental reason that we see weakness in June, and possibly July. My worst case scenario for 2021 (price\/on-chain based): Aug>47K, Sep>43K, Oct>63K, Nov>98K, Dec>135K pic.twitter.com\/hDONOVgxH1<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 PlanB (@100trillionUSD) June 20, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n After Bitcoin failed to reach those levels, S2F and PlanB himself both saw considerable public criticism<\/a>.<\/p>\n While PlanB continues to give optimistic outlooks on where Bitcoin is headed, the SBF debacle is fast becoming a source of amusement on social media.<\/p>\n I can\u2019t stop thinking about an alternate timeline where <\/p>\n -SBF is president of the United States<\/p>\n -Bitcoin hits 100k <\/p>\n -FTX token flips BTC<\/p>\n -meat is illegal <\/p>\n -the US annexes the Bahamas <\/p>\n -all women above a 3 get deported<\/p>\n \u2014 Doge Cuban (@DogecoinCuban) October 11, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Others disagree with Bankman-Fried\u2019s motives. Responding to Ellison\u2019s testimony, Blockstream CEO and co-founder Adam Back queried whether he genuinely sought to stifle market growth.<\/p>\n So that sounds to me more like SBF “need USD liquidity sell BTC, but don’t sell below $20k” and not “try to keep BTC under $20k. Ie below $20k is ridiculously cheap wait for higher. https:\/\/t.co\/UKGQMGUKH2<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Adam Back (@adam3us) October 12, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\nFTX testimony reveals mass BTC selling<\/h2>\n
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Ellison: Notes from a conversation with Sam. I wrote, keep selling BTC if its over $20K.
AUSA: You wrote, FTX may raise. What does that mean?
Ellison: Raise capital by selling equity, to get more money. To investors like MSB, the Saudi Prince<\/p>\nSBF vs. S2F<\/h2>\n
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