Despite institutional capital inflows reaching billions of dollars, Bitcoin continues to trade within a narrow price range. This situation raises concerns of potential price manipulation in the cryptocurrency market. Bitcoin has been trading between $92,400 and $106,500 for about two months. The leading cryptocurrency has been moving within this range since December 18, and briefly managed to break out of this range shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump’s inauguration on January 20, reaching an all-time high of $109,000. However, this increase was not sustained, and Bitcoin quickly returned to its previous trading range. Is it AN ARTIFICIAL MARKET LOOK? Samson Mow, CEO of Jan3 and founder of Pixelmatic, evaluated Bitcoin’s movement in a narrow range by comparing it with past price actions. In his speech at the Consensus Hong Kong 2025 event, Mow claimed that price movements were not natural. He suggested that this situation seemed like a price suppression, where Bitcoin first reached a peak, then remained stable, and later followed a sideways trend. He acknowledged that consolidation processes could be considered normal, but stated that the current movements indicated an artificial market appearance. Mow argued that Bitcoin’s trading within a narrow price range seemed unnatural, although long-term price expectations in the industry were quite optimistic. Many experts in the market believe that Bitcoin can reach a range of $160,000 to $180,000 within 2025 DESPITE INSTITUTIONAL DEMAND, STAGNATION PERSISTS Bitcoin’s stagnant price movement continues despite institutional investors entering the market. Mow pointed out the high demand for spot Bitcoin ETFs in the U.S., stating that institutional investors and individual buyers were accumulating Bitcoin, yet the price did not show a significant increase during this process. Mow emphasized that large investors like MicroStrategy under the leadership of Michael Saylor were buying many times more of the new Bitcoin supply introduced to the market, but if the price does not move, someone must be selling. Mow stated that the price of Bitcoin is determined by the buying and selling transactions that occur in the market, mentioning that retail investors continue to make purchases using the dollar-cost averaging method, but the current price pressure persists. According to Mow, some major companies that went bankrupt or entered restructuring last year had to sell their Bitcoin assets. However, he believed that such selling pressures had largely come to an end.