Crypto market crash triggered by 'aggressive' selling by Jump Trading – report

Jump Trading significantly contributed to the crypto market sell-off and it could be looking to sell another $104 million worth of wstETH.

The current crypto market crash is being directly linked to offloading by Jump Trading, according to QCP Group, one of Singapore’s first digital asset trading groups.

Ether (ETH) price fell over 21% in the 24 hours leading up to 11:20 a.m. in UTC, to trade at $2,252, according to Cointelegraph data.

The crash to an over five-month low was mainly caused by Ether selling from Jump Trading and Paradigm VC, according to an Aug. 5 report by QCP Group, that wrote:

“The immediate trigger in crypto seems to have been aggressive ETH selling from Jump Trading and Paradigm VC. The move was probably exacerbated by market makers scrambling to cut short gamma as front-end ETH volumes spiked more than 30% to 120%!”

Ether’s price is struggling to remain above the $2,200 psychological mark. A potential move below could trigger more panic selling among crypto investors, leading to lower lows.

The sharp decline comes despite the launch of the first spot Ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the United States, which debuted for trading on July 23.

Related: Analysts warn of further Bitcoin downside — Could BTC revisit $42K?

Jump Trading continues selling Ether

During the past week, Jump Crypto, the crypto division of Jump Trading, has shifted hundreds of millions of dollars worth of digital assets to crypto exchanges, in preparation for a sizable sale, as reported by Cointelegraph.

Jump Trading has sold over $377 million worth of wstETH since July 24, when Ether’s price started to decline.

The firm is looking to sell a total of $481 million worth of Lido wstETH (wstETH), according to an Aug. 5 X post by Lookonchain, that wrote:

“Jump Trading is selling 120,695 wstETH ($481M) and has sold 83K $wstETH ($377M) since July 24, leaving 37,604 $wstETH($104M). The market also began to fall after July 24, falling by more than 33%!”

Jump Trading is reportedly being investigated by the Commodities and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The firm’s president, Kanav Kariya, has stepped down from his role on June 24.

Related: Hong Kong’s largest online broker launches Bitcoin and Ether trading for 22 million users

Macroeconomics played a significant part in the crypto market crash

Macroeconomic factors have also played a crucial role in the crypto market downturn.

Friday’s poor US unemployment data was a significant negative catalyst, according to QCP’s report, that wrote:

“In addition to that, huge unwinds across all assets have caused volatility to spike sharply. The VIX touched 50 (it was only higher during the Covid panic and the 2008 financial crisis), and USDJPY 1M at-the-money Vols spiked to 16%! This is likely to cause further unwinds.”

Moreover, the current military tensions between Israel and Iran could also add further downward pressure on global markets, according to QCP:

“A global risk-off mood has also set in with Israel killing the Hamas leader over the weekend. Iran has vowed to take action, and the US has actually started to deploy troops into the Middle East.”