Community unleashes theories: did a Trump leak sink bitcoin or was it luck?

The digital asset community is hotly debating “Black Friday” on October 10, 2025, which saw the market, including bitcoin (BTC), plummet by as much as 17%. This sharp decline followed Donald Trump’s announcement of 100% tariffs on China. Various theories subsequently emerged on social networks, seeking the real causes of this sudden collapse.

User DanteX suggests that Trump «benefits from both market declines and recoveries because he controls the catalysts.» In a forceful statement, he stated: “Cryptocurrencies have become your private hedge fund, where retail losses equal insider trading income.” In doing so, it accentuated the perception that political decisions are used to directly influence the wealth of specific actors in the digital asset space.

The market crash occurred precisely one minute after Trump announced tariffs on China. For this reason, the Colombian bitcoiner known on social networks as «BTCAndres» suspects that there was a possible operation with insider information, highlighting one whale that opened short positions just before the announcement, making over $150 million in profits.

The speculator they refer to opened “huge short positions” on the decentralized platform Hyperliquid. He then sold large amounts of bitcoin and other digital assets short.

This is a risky move that only pays off if prices drop drastically, which happened last Friday, when BTC fell 7%, below $112,600. Ether (ETH) also fell 12%. While the third largest stablecoin on the market lost its parity with the dollar, as reported by NoticiasVE.

The trader’s bet became a gold mine. Only in the currency of the Ethereum network he obtained about 72 million dollars. And he currently maintains more than 90 million in short bitcoin positionsso your total profit could be much higher.

These coincidences are not an isolated event. Previously, million-dollar operations in bitcoin and ether raised suspicions around Donald Trump’s announcement to advance a national BTC reserve.

They suspect that there is handling of privileged information

Daniel Muvdi, head of markets at brokerage Quantfury, bitterly joked: «If only we were friends with Trump,» alluding to trading moves that suggested privileged access to presidential information.

Muvdi noted the appearance of «trades Highly leveraged (millionaires) minutes before Trump’s post everywhere, with liquidations at 1% or less,” suggesting unusual certainty about market direction.

Manipulation or coincidence due to geopolitical volatility

Not everyone shares the insider trading theory. Some voices attribute the fall to the inherent geopolitical volatility and excessive market leverage.

Cryptographer Nick Szabo, known for his closeness to Satoshi Nakamoto, described a classic pump-and-dump (inflation and dumping), a price manipulation scheme common in meme coin markets.

In response to a user frustrated by losses in Solana meme coins, Szabo exposed the vicious cycle of exaggerated optimism.

«The hypesters (euphoria promoters) bought, then they spread memes, then you bought, then they sold. Guess who took the profits, you or the hypesters«said Szabo. His message resonates as a stark reminder that in the speculative frenzy, the real winners are often those who orchestrate the euphoria, not those who fall into it. With this, the precursor of bitcoin invites everyone to pause before joining the herd.

Carlitosway, advisor at Silencio Network, contextualized the event with a more disruptive vision: «This was not chaos, it was a targeted attack. “The old world must collapse before a new order can be established,” he said.