Peter Brandt Says CME Group Does Not Control The Bitcoin Price

Peter Brandt counters arguments that crypto markets are plummeting because of institutional manipulation.

In a series of tweets today, veteran trader Peter Brandt countered arguments that the price action of Bitcoin is controlled by CME Group or is a result of bank manipulation. 

The trader made his case by highlighting that data from CoinMarketCap shows that the daily Bitcoin trading volume at CME is only a small fraction of the total Bitcoin daily trading volume and, as such, had little impact on the overall price movements of the asset.

“Does the @CMEGroup control the price of Bitcoin?  According to CoinMarketCap the global daily trading volume is approx. 2.5 million BTC. The daily trading volume at the CME is approx 45,000 BTC. To suggest that the CME controls the price of BTC is utter hogwash,“ Brandt wrote.

Does the @CMEGroup control the price of Bitcoin?

According to @CoinMarketCap the global daily trading volume is approx. 2.5 million $BTC

The daily trading volume at the CME is approx 45,000 BTC

To suggest that the CME controls the price of BTC is utter hogwash

— Peter Brandt (@PeterLBrandt) September 21, 2022

Emphasizing his point in the comments following a response by Tuur Demeester that the narrative was a conspiracy borrowed from gold bugs, Brandt added:

“In the case of both BTC and Gold bulls, when price goes up, it is destiny, but when price goes down, it’s manipulation by banks and futures markets.”

Notably, despite Brandt’s arguments, some users in the comments noted that CME Group is not the only derivative trading platform available for Bitcoin. Additionally, another user said that it should be a question of the leverage allowed by CME and not the trading volume.

Institutions are often seen as market makers because of the large amount of capital they control. Consequently, large impulsive market moves are often attributed to institutions.

It bears mentioning that the crypto market has been in a steady decline since November last year after many major cryptocurrencies formed new highs earlier in the month. The lackluster price performance has been attributed to the Fed turning hawkish by raising rates to combat inflation. Consequently, this economic tightening has doused many investors’ risk appetite, including institutions. This, combined with the collapse of several crypto institutions this year, has triggered huge sell-offs.

In July, The Crypto Basic reported that large institutions have sold over 236,000 BTC since May. The data shows that most of the selling was forced by institutional blowups like the Terra ecosystem collapse. We see less institutional capital inflow into the crypto markets as macroeconomic concerns persist.

Bitcoin is trading at the $18,665.63 price point, 2.12% lower in the last 24 hours, as concerns longer that the Fed may raise rates by 100 basis points later today.

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