Even Andrew Tate Suspects Bitcoin Whales Are Manipulating Its Price

Andrew Tate Joins Chorus Suspecting BTC Price Manipulation

When a bank CEO, a trader, and an Internet villain agree on something, it’s worth paying attention to. That is the case with Custodia Bank CEO Caitlin Long, bitcoin trader Stefan Jespers, better known as “ Whale Panda,” and controversial Internet personality Andrew Tate. All three have publicly raised concerns about shadowy whales secretly controlling bitcoin’s price, with Tate’s allegations being the most recent.

“I’m huge on BTC,” Tate posted on Monday. “But micro strat buy 10k btc ina [sic] single day and the price doesn’t move. Explain that to me.”

The self-proclaimed “Top G” is referencing Monday’s announcement of a 10,624 BTC purchase by bitcoin treasury giant Strategy that failed to move markets. The cryptocurrency was down 1.57% yesterday. “So. Much. Manipulation,” Long said a little more than a week ago in response to another post about BTC’s quirky price action. The 22-year Wall Street veteran and Harvard Law graduate is a well-respected voice among the bitcoin faithful.

Read more: Is Bitcoin’s Price Being Manipulated?

But long before Tate and Long publicly revealed their suspicions of shady dealings in the BTC market, Jespers had already sounded the alarm. “I really don’t want to be right about paper Bitcoin and the manipulation,” Jespers wrote in August. “I want to be wrong. A lot of my networth [sic] is in BTC, I have cold storage for my kids in BTC. Real Bitcoin in self custody. Not ETFs or treasuries or WBTC.”

The term “paper bitcoin” refers to the idea of bitcoin transactions executed via “IOUs” instead of actual onchain trades. It’s a phrase that has been around for a while but became increasingly popular in 2024 when the first cohort of bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) was approved by the SEC. Since then, billions in institutional capital have flowed into the ecosystem; yet since the so-called “Great Liquidation” event of October 10-11, no amount of positive economic news has been able to consistently buoy the digital asset’s price. BTC’s puzzling behavior has raised eyebrows even among the most loyal bitcoin devotees, including Tate.

“Buying 1/2000th of the market cap usually do not cause much waves,” said Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, co-founder of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, in response to Tate’s post. “ BTC is liquid.”

Overview of Market Metrics

Bitcoin was trading at $93,948.67 at the time of writing, up 4.33% from yesterday’s price and 2.25% higher on a weekly basis, according to Coinmarketcap. The digital asset reached a low of $89,586.98 early Tuesday before climbing as high as $94,601.57.

Daily trading volume rose 13.43% in the last 24 hours to reach $65.35 billion, and market capitalization jumped to $1.97 trillion. Bitcoin dominance, however, slid 0.24% to 59.06%.

Total bitcoin futures open interest increased 3.19% to $59.69 billion, Coinglass data shows. Liquidations were on the rise once more, reaching a total of $157.29 million at the time of reporting. Short sellers were caught off guard by bitcoin’s surprise 5% jump and lost $140.63 million in liquidated margin. Long investors were mostly unscathed, with only a few overzealous bulls losing $16.66 million.

FAQ ⚡

• Why are people suddenly talking about bitcoin price manipulation?
  Several influential figures, including Andrew Tate, Caitlin Long, and Whale Panda, have publicly suggested that whales may be suppressing BTC’s movements.
• Why didn’t Strategy’s 10,624 BTC purchase move the market?
  Critics argue this kind of muted reaction hints at “paper bitcoin” dynamics or large players offsetting buys behind the scenes.
• What does “paper bitcoin” mean?
  It refers to synthetic or IOU-based BTC exposure that never touches the blockchain, potentially distorting real supply-and-demand signals.
• Does the latest 5% BTC spike confirm manipulation?
  Not necessarily, but the mix of sudden swings and muted reactions to huge buys is intensifying debate among traders and analysts.