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Rogue Crypto Whale Triggered Billion-Dollar Bitcoin, Ethereum and XRP Bull Run in 2017, Claims New Study

November 04, 2019

Two researchers are now claiming a single trader triggered the crypto market’s massive bull run in 2017.

John Griffin, a professor at the University of Texas, along with Amin Shams, an assistant professor at Ohio State University, say their research shows Bitcoin buys on the crypto exchange Bitfinex were systematically placed when the price of BTC reached certain levels.

The whale used the stablecoin Tether to make the transactions, pushing the price of BTC, ETH and XRP to new all-time highs, reports Bloomberg.

“Years from now, people will be surprised to learn investors handed over billions to people they didn’t know and who faced little oversight.”

Bitcoin’s correlation to the altcoin market is well-documented. At the height of the last parabolic bull run, BTC hit an all-time high of $20,089, according to CoinMarketCap. Ethereum hit $1,432 and XRP hit $3.84.

Tether says the findings are “foundationally flawed” and rely on an incomplete set of data

Meanwhile, eToro analyst Mati Greenspan says an influx of millions of retail traders on the exchange shows the historic rally was fueled by much more than a rogue whale.

Good thing I was there to personally witness the millions of retail accounts opened @etoro during the 2017 rally. https://t.co/WjmdRHFXmG

— Mati (@MatiGreenspan) November 4, 2019

Morgan Creek Digital co-founder, Anthony Pompliano, calls the claims a conspiracy theory.

People really believe a single person caused a ~ $100 billion asset to 10X in 6 months.

Bitcoin conspiracy theorists are wild ?

— Pomp ? (@APompliano) November 4, 2019

Right now, the crypto markets are mostly in the green. Bitcoin is up 3.72% at $9,455 according to COIN360, at time of writing.

Ethereum is up 3.47% at $186.38, XRP is up 2.65% at $0.2974, Bitcoin Cash is up 2.18% at $290.45 and Litecoin is up 6.36% at $61.60.

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