Joshua de Vos, of CoinDesk, an industry data provider and publication, said: “The timing and scale of the positions opened on October 10, immediately prior to the market-wide liquidation, does raise suspicion of information asymmetry.”
He added: “While there is no conclusive evidence of insider trading, the wallet activity shows strong, directional conviction.”
Cryptocurrencies have struggled to recover since Trump’s announcement, with Bitcoin still down by 8.5% from Friday, while Ethereum is also trading 12.8% lower. Dogecoin is down 26.3%.
The US President’s unexpected tariffs threat was in retaliation to China’s decision to introduce new export controls on global supplies of rare earths and critical minerals, which was announced just days earlier.
However, Beijing appears to have softened its stance over the weekend, with some investment experts questioning whether the market sell-off was triggered by a brief geopolitical misunderstanding.
Meanwhile, the latest bout of scrutiny comes after Trump’s administration was also caught up in claims of insider trading back in April.
Several Democrats called for an inquiry after the President’s “liberation day” tariffs announcement on April 2 sent stocks plunging around the world, only to swiftly recover after Trump announced a pause.
At the time, Elizabeth Warren, a Democratic senator, wrote a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission urging it to investigate whether Trump’s tariffs about-turn had “enriched administration insiders and friends at the expense of the American public”.
Senior White House officials have repeatedly denied claims of insider trading.
It comes as global policymakers and finance ministers gather in Washington this week to attend the International Monetary Fund (IMF) autumn summit.
Worries about a looming stock market correction sparked by an AI bubble are expected to dominate at the meetings.
Kristalina Georgieva, the IMF managing director, warned on Wednesday before the meetings that things could get ugly quickly, with the market bearing echoes of the dotcom bubble.
She said: “Valuations are heading toward levels we saw during the bullishness about the internet 25 years ago.
“If a sharp correction were to occur, tighter financial conditions could drag down world growth, expose vulnerabilities, and make life especially tough for developing countries.”
The Bank of England also issued a similar warning last week, questioning whether tech stocks could live up to extremely high valuations.
Such concerns are compounded by investors dumping shares in the world’s largest money managers over fears that their $3tn push into private credit is headed for trouble.
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