Yesterdays sudden Bitcoin crash has drawn all kinds of speculation as to what could be the cause, with the most prominent belief being that of Goldman Sachs withdrawing its plans to build a BTC Trading Desk. Other evidence points to the transfer of 16,000 BTC from a wallet allegedly linked to Silk Road and Mt Gox.

No matter what you believe, there is no denying that everyone in the crypto community was surprised by the sudden $400 dip that has now continued a further $600.

Except somebody was not surprised.

Two days ago, an unknown trader shorted Bitcoin for $74 million (10,000 BTC).

The timing seems a little too perfect to be coincidental. It would appear the investor had some kind of insider information, whether it be of the Goldman Sachs decision or something yet to come to light. Admittedly, the majority of analysts have been predicting a minor downturn over the past few days, but the severity and speed of this one and the size of the short raises serious questions.

Whatever it is, it’s just one more nail in the coffin of the Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) decision. Price manipulation is exactly the reason the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has rejected every Bitcoin ETF proposal so far. The SEC is supposed to come to a decision on the VanEck/SolidX Bitcoin ETF in 20 days time – with this new information it’s likely they will reject it before then.

So this poses the question – if news regarding institutional investment in cryptocurrency can be so easily manipulated, is it really a good idea? If we weren’t pushing for companies like Goldman Sachs to build BTC Trading Desks then we wouldn’t have these issues in the first place.

While admittedly adoption is key for any new technology to be of any use, maybe cryptocurrency would do better in its own personal sphere. As Andreas Antonopoulos recently pointed out, a Bitcoin ETF would make Bitcoin more centralized and easier to manipulate.

After all, the 2008 financial crash caused by institutions just like Goldman Sachs was the very reason Bitcoin was invented in the first place.