From cointelegraph by Zoltan Vardai 

Bitcoin’s price action is raising concerns of possible market manipulation as the cryptocurrency continues trading in a tight range despite billions of dollars in institutional inflows.

Bitcoin BTC$96,256has been range-bound for over two months, trading between the $92,400 support and $106,500 resistance since Dec. 18, 2024, Cointelegraph MarketsProdata shows.

Bitcoin price managed to briefly escape this range after US President Donald Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20, when it briefly rose to the $109,000 all-time high before dropping back into its previous range.

Bitcoin’s range-bound price action may be manufactured based on the trajectory of the past months, according to Samson Mow, CEO of Jan3 and founder of Pixelmatic.

“It seems like it’s some sort of price suppression,” said Mow during a panel discussion at Consensus Hong Kong 2025, adding:

“If you look at the price movement, we peak, and then we stay steady and chop sideways. And it’s good, you can say it’s consolidation, but it just looks very manufactured.”

“The very tight range in which you’re trading just doesn’t look natural at all,” Mow added.

Despite Bitcoin’s temporary lack of upside, industry watchers remain optimistic about Bitcoin’s trajectory for 2025, with price predictions ranging from ranging from $160,000 to above $180,000.

Related: Texas Bitcoin reserve hearing ‘symbolic move’ for crypto — Analyst

Bitcoin stagnates despite ETF inflows and institutional buying

The US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and companies like Michael Saylor’s Strategy are transparently buying a “multiple of the Bitcoin mined every day,” Mow said.

“If Bitcoin’s price isn’t moving despite institutions and retail buyers accumulating BTC, then someone must be selling,” Mow explained.

“And you’ve got retail buyers who are dollar-cost averaging and buying and because the price is set at the margin, so that means somebody has to be selling.”

While last year saw “structural sellers” offloading Bitcoin due to bankruptcies and restructuring, that period is largely behind the market, Mow said.

Related: Bitcoin holds $95K support despite heavy selling pressure

The crypto market saw another key development this week as FTX began repaying creditors, distributing over $1.2 billion to claimants.

However, repayments are being made based on Bitcoin’s price from November 2022, when it was trading near $20,000. Some analysts believe this could create additional selling pressure as recipients of these repayments seek to realize their gains.

“FTX is starting to pay out their dollars from selling Bitcoin, Ill advisedly, in the mid 20k range, so clearly, somebody is selling to match this, otherwise, the price would already be moving upwards again,” Mow said.