Jane Street faces insider trading allegations, raising suspicions behind the crypto crash

LUNA-1.81%

Jane Street Accused of Insider Trading

The global quantitative trading giant Jane Street has once again become a focal point of controversy in the cryptocurrency market. Terraform Labs’ bankruptcy administrator has officially filed a lawsuit, accusing Jane Street of profiting by using non-public information related to Terraform’s liquidity withdrawals to preemptively close positions before the collapse of TerraUSD (UST) and LUNA in May 2022. Jane Street denies all allegations, stating that it will defend itself in court. Currently, no court has issued any rulings regarding these claims.

Terraform Lawsuit: Logic of the Allegations and Existing Disputes

According to the complaint, Terraform quietly withdrew approximately $150 million from the Curve liquidity pool supporting UST prior to its collapse. The complaint alleges that shortly after this withdrawal, a wallet address associated with Jane Street purportedly transferred or sold tens of millions of dollars worth of UST. Terraform believes these actions accelerated the market confidence collapse, ultimately triggering the death spiral of UST and LUNA, resulting in approximately $40 billion in market value evaporating.

Jane Street explicitly denies any misconduct and claims that the related transactions fall within normal market-making activities. Notably, this case is the first major legal action directly targeting Jane Street’s activities in the crypto market, and its outcome could set an important legal precedent for defining insider trading in decentralized markets.

Key Connections Between Jane Street and Major Crypto Events

UST/LUNA Collapse (2022): Terraform accuses Jane Street of allegedly selling UST in advance while possessing non-public information. This remains an unadjudicated claim in the lawsuit.
FTX Collapse (2022): FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried and Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison both previously worked at Jane Street, but there are currently no legal charges involving Jane Street itself.
Shared Background: As a major market maker in crypto, Jane Street maintains extensive trading counterparties with numerous institutions, making its activities frequently appear in on-chain records related to significant market events.

Jane Street’s Market Maker Role: Visibility Does Not Equal Legal Responsibility

Jane Street is one of the largest quantitative trading firms globally, engaging in algorithmic trading and liquidity provision across stocks, bonds, ETFs, and crypto assets. It does not operate exchanges nor issue tokens but acts as a market maker, continuously buying and selling assets on major exchanges to maintain market efficiency.

During the rapid expansion of the crypto market from 2020 to 2022, Jane Street became one of the largest crypto market makers, with trading footprints widely present across major exchanges and decentralized liquidity pools. As a result, whenever major market events occur, Jane Street’s addresses or transaction records are naturally more likely to be scrutinized externally.

Regulators and courts have not yet determined that Jane Street is responsible for any major crypto collapses. The direction of the Terraform lawsuit will have a profound impact on the regulatory boundaries for market makers in the crypto industry.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the core allegations against Jane Street in the Terraform lawsuit?

Terraform Labs’ bankruptcy administrator accuses Jane Street of secretly withdrawing about $150 million from the Curve liquidity pool before the UST collapse in 2022, using non-public information to sell UST in advance for profit. Jane Street denies these allegations, and no court has yet ruled on this matter.

What is the relationship between Jane Street and the FTX collapse?

Both FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried and Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison previously worked at Jane Street, but there is no evidence or legal charge indicating Jane Street was involved in FTX’s fraud. Investigators attribute FTX’s downfall to mismanagement by FTX and Alameda’s leadership regarding customer funds.

What role does Jane Street play in the crypto market?

Jane Street is a leading global quantitative trading firm and market maker that provides liquidity through algorithmic trading in crypto markets. It does not operate exchanges or issue tokens but interacts as a trading counterparty with major platforms and institutions. This broad market presence makes its activities frequently appear in on-chain records related to significant market events.

View Original
Disclaimer: The information on this page may come from third parties and does not represent the views or opinions of Gate. The content displayed on this page is for reference only and does not constitute any financial, investment, or legal advice. Gate does not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information and shall not be liable for any losses arising from the use of this information. Virtual asset investments carry high risks and are subject to significant price volatility. You may lose all of your invested principal. Please fully understand the relevant risks and make prudent decisions based on your own financial situation and risk tolerance. For details, please refer to Disclaimer.

Related Articles

Pi Network's new reward plan offers $0 but sparks frenzy. Can Mobix's promotion of real-world business implementation rewrite the value logic of Pi Coin?

On February 25, news reports indicate that despite the new position offering a $0 salary, the Pi Network community has shown great enthusiasm for Mobix's global expansion plan. According to the latest update, Mobix is encouraging representatives from various countries to participate in building localized commercial networks, promoting Pi's use in real-world payments and circulation, and accelerating the transition from mining incentive models to actual consumer scenarios. The core of this plan is to establish a "Global Business Layer." Mobix recruits volunteer representatives from different regions to coordinate product delivery, optimize order processing workflows, and improve cross-border transaction communication efficiency. This localized support mechanism aims to reduce transaction friction, enhance the Pi payment experience, and provide infrastructure support for Pi's commercialization. Unlike crypto projects that rely on price speculation, this model emphasizes real commodity exchanges and everyday payment use, reinforcing its positioning as a "practical digital currency."

GateNewsBot32m ago

Tonight, Circle and NVIDIA will release their earnings reports. Will AI narratives once again "support" the crypto market? This becomes the focus.

The issuer of the US dollar stablecoin USDC, Circle, and NVIDIA will release their earnings reports on February 25th before the market opens and after the market closes, respectively. The market is watching how their performance will impact risk assets. NVIDIA's stock price has been stagnant amid fluctuations, and Wall Street is concerned about the short-term pressure behind the earnings report. Investors are assessing the relationship between AI, semiconductors, and stablecoins, and are looking forward to the market reaction to the earnings reports.

GateNewsBot1h ago

Pi Open Network One Year Anniversary: Founders Emphasize Practicality and KYC Ecosystem, Mainnet Migration Surpasses 16.2 Million

On February 25, Pi Network celebrated the one-year anniversary of its open network launch by releasing a new video message from founder Chengdiao Fan, reaffirming the development path of "practicality first." She stated that Pi is different from projects driven by ICOs or short-term speculation, instead focusing on long-term value through mobile mining, real identity verification, and local business applications, with the goal of promoting practical daily payments and application scenarios. Official data shows that approximately 16.2 million users have completed mainnet migration, and about 17.7 million have completed KYC verification; the total number of active nodes on the network exceeds 421,000, with over 9 billion Pi transferred into mainnet wallets. On the ecological level, hundreds of applications are already online, with around 148,000 merchants registered on the Pi Map e-commerce platform, emphasizing the parallel promotion of user participation and commercial activities, rather than just mining growth.

GateNewsBot1h ago

Trump's State of the Union address did not mention Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, and the market's expectations were disappointed, causing intense price volatility.

February 25 News, U.S. President Trump did not mention Bitcoin, blockchain, or cryptocurrency policies in his important policy speech (State of the Union Address) in February 2026, sparking significant attention in the crypto market. Previously, most investors expected Trump to signal regulation of digital assets, financial innovation, or the development of the crypto industry. Therefore, his "avoidance of mentioning cryptocurrencies" quickly became a key variable for traders interpreting macro sentiment. From the content of the speech, Trump mainly focused on economic growth, employment, border security, and national security issues, without touching on any policy directions related to digital assets. This silence surprised some supporters of the crypto industry. Over the past two years, Trump has expressed a positive attitude toward Bitcoin and digital finance multiple times and supported crypto-related projects, leading the market to view him as a potential "crypto-friendly" politician.

GateNewsBot1h ago

Trump DeFi project was hacked, and short sellers targeted it! The stablecoin USD 1 briefly dropped to $0.9942.

The USD stablecoin USD1 of the cryptocurrency project World Liberty Financial supported by the Trump family was subjected to an organized attack on . The price once dropped to $0.9942. The attackers hacked into multiple founders' accounts and spread rumors, attempting to profit from it. However, officials emphasized that the stability mechanism and asset reserves of USD1 remain intact, and the coin price has stabilized back to the $1 level. This incident highlights the security and market trustworthiness of the currency.

区块客1h ago
Comment
0/400
No comments
Trade Crypto Anywhere Anytime
qrCode
Scan to download Gate App
Community
English
  • 简体中文
  • English
  • Tiếng Việt
  • 繁體中文
  • Español
  • Русский
  • Français (Afrique)
  • Português (Portugal)
  • Bahasa Indonesia
  • 日本語
  • بالعربية
  • Українська
  • Português (Brasil)