Why does Bitcoin often drop exactly at 18:00 Moscow time?

Bitcoin drops almost every day at the same time — right when the American market opens, when activity and trading volume suddenly increase.
These declines resemble the work of large high-frequency traders who profit by pushing the price down and then buying back cheaper.
Jane Street is often mentioned in discussions due to its large positions in Bitcoin ETFs and resources that enable such operations, although there is no direct proof of its involvement.
In recent weeks, many have noticed a strange pattern: Bitcoin often begins to fall when the US market opens — around 10:00 AM New York time (approximately 18:00 Moscow time). Sometimes it appears especially sharply: hours of growth disappear in just 15–20 minutes.

This also happened in one of the recent trading sessions: Bitcoin lost 16 hours of gains in just a few minutes after US trading started. BeInCrypto’s editorial team investigated what’s behind the morning “fainting spells” of Bitcoin.
Bitcoin drops almost every day at the same time — right when the American market opens, when activity and trading volume suddenly increase.
These declines resemble the work of large high-frequency traders who profit by pushing the price down and then buying back cheaper.
Jane Street is often mentioned in discussions due to its large positions in Bitcoin ETFs and resources that enable such operations, although there is no direct proof of its involvement.
Why does Bitcoin fall at the same time?
When the US market opens, a large flow of trades enters the market — participants begin actively buying and selling assets. Liquidity sharply increases, and the price becomes more sensitive to large transactions. At such moments, big traders can execute significant volume trades almost without delay.

If a major participant dumps a large amount of Bitcoin onto the market, the price instantly drops. Then, when activity decreases, the market gradually recovers part of the decline.
What’s the connection to Jane Street?
In the crypto community, it is believed that synchronized morning drops resemble the work of high-frequency trading firms. These firms use algorithms capable of executing a huge number of trades per second, earning on small price fluctuations.

One of the most discussed companies — Jane Street. In terms of scale, it is one of the largest global traders. The algorithms used by the firm operate at high speed and with significant volumes. Thanks to these capabilities, large participants can temporarily influence the price of an asset, especially during surges of trades in the first minutes of trading.

There is no direct proof of Jane Street’s involvement in Bitcoin declines. However, the company is regularly mentioned because, according to open data, it holds about $2.5 billion in Bitcoin ETF BlackRock IBIT. This position indicates that the firm has resources to carry out large operations.

How to profit from this
To understand the mechanism, it’s enough to imagine a possible algorithm:

At 10 AM New York time — during peak activity — a large volume of Bitcoin is sold.
The price sharply drops because the market cannot process such volume in time.
After the decline, the same participant can buy Bitcoin cheaper.
Profit is made from the difference between the selling price and the subsequent purchase.
The cycle repeats daily.
This approach allows earning from short-term sharp movements and does not aim to depress the market long-term.