Market maker giant Jane Street is again drawing intense attention in crypto markets, with experts claiming the firm’s “next target” may now be Ethereum (ETH).
The speculation comes after reports that Jane Street made several major adjustments to its positions during the week, following months of scrutiny tied to alleged trading manipulation connected to Bitcoin (BTC).
From Bitcoin Retreat To Ethereum Expansion
Jane Street, one of Wall Street’s most active proprietary trading firms, reportedly reduced multiple Bitcoin-linked holdings in the first quarter (Q1) of the year, while meaningfully increasing its exposure to assets tied to Ethereum.
Jane Street’s position in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) fell by 71% quarter-over-quarter to about 5.9 million shares, with a reported value near $225 million.
The firm also cut its stake in Fidelity’s Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC), where holdings fell approximately 60% to around 2 million shares, valued at nearly $115 million at quarter-end.
The reduction also extended to Strategy (previously MicroStrategy). Jane Street’s Strategy holdings fell from about 968,000 shares in Q4 2025 to roughly 210,000 shares by the end of Q1. The reported value declined from close to $146 million to around $27 million.
But while the firm was dialing back Bitcoin exposure, it was simultaneously building its Ethereum footprint. Jane Street expanded its holdings in Ethereum ETFs, with positions in BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust nearly doubling during the quarter.
The firm also added substantially to Fidelity’s Ethereum fund. Combined additions across the two ETH products were estimated at approximately $82 million.
Smaller Derivatives, Bigger Impact?
The move is now being framed by analysts as a potential continuation of the same pattern some observers associate with Jane Street’s earlier Bitcoin-linked controversies.
Analysts at Bull Theory suggested that the firm behind a “daily 10 AM Bitcoin dump,” the same firm that was reportedly sued for insider trading in the $40 billion LUNA collapse, and the same firm with $567 million frozen by Indian regulators could now be targeting Ethereum.
Their central argument is that ETH may be easier to move than BTC, primarily because of market structure and scale. Bull Theory pointed out that Bitcoin futures open interest stands at roughly $60 billion, while Ethereum’s is slightly more than half at about $34 billion.
The thesis is that a smaller derivatives market can make it possible to influence price with a smaller amount of capital. They also emphasized relative market size, noting that ETH’s market cap is $273 billion compared to BTC’s $1.6 trillion. Under their logic, the same amount of capital would create 6 times greater price impact in ETH.
The analysts also argued that the Ethereum ETF market is still relatively early. They claimed that Bitcoin ETFs hold roughly 6.67% of all circulating BTC supply, while Ethereum ETF penetration is lower, meaning there may not yet be the same institutional “demand floor” to absorb coordinated selling.
Their conclusion was pointed: they believe the rotation into Ethereum is not happening primarily because Jane Street is forecasting bullish fundamentals for ETH, but because Ethereum is “easier to move.”
At the time of writing, ETH was trading at around $2,292, with almost no change from Wednesday’s price. Meanwhile, other assets such as Bitcoin and XRP saw gains of around 2% and 4% respectively during the same period.
Featured image created with OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com
