Jihan Wu, co-founder of Matrixport, stepped forward to address the criticisms and market manipulation allegations sparked by a recent Bitcoin report from his firm. Following the abrupt drop in BTC’s price on January 3, linked to the Matrixport report, Wu came forward to dispel doubts.
In his message on the X platform (formerly Twitter), Wu suggested that the significant decrease in Bitcoin’s price was due to market volatility driven by expectations surrounding spot BTC ETFs. BTC value dropped approximately 10%, impacting the overall crypto market. Coinglass data indicates that around $700 million in market positions were liquidated since then.
Matrixport's analysts operate independently, expressing their opinions without any influence or interference from management. They are employed for their superior analytical skills compared to mine and other management team. I have only briefly glanced at the title of the report,…
— Jihan Wu (@JihanWu) January 3, 2024
Matrixport’s report expressed the possibility that the SEC would reject all pending applications for spot BTC ETFs this month, coinciding with the market downturn. While it is unconfirmed whether the report influenced the drop, there is speculation about whether it was a deliberate act by Matrixport to manipulate the market, considering how actions around ETFs have affected the cryptocurrency’s price.
According to Wu, Matrixport Lacks the Capacity to Influence the Market
In a second message, Jihan Wu dismissed market manipulation accusations and claimed that his firm lacks the ability to influence it given its position and location. He emphasized that they do not receive insider information from U.S. regulators, and all their analyses are based on public information.
Wu also defended the independence of analysts in his company, stating that they operate without influence or interference from management. He pointed out that it is unrealistic to think that the firm’s report triggered the market drop and attributed the volatility to high funding rates in Bitcoin’s perpetual markets and the recent decline in cryptocurrency-related stocks.
Regarding current fluctuations and uncertainty about ETF approval in January, Wu highlighted that, in the historical and future perspective of Bitcoin, these concerns are insignificant. In his opinion, the inevitable approval of a spot ETF by the SEC will attract new investments to BTC.
