A new breakdown from X analyst Bull Theory is getting serious attention across the Bitcoin community, mainly because the sequence of events he outlines raises far more questions than answers. His research suggests that the pressure placed on MicroStrategy (MSTR) over the past several months may not have been random market behavior, but part of a much bigger institutional shift toward bank-controlled Bitcoin products.
The timeline begins in May 2025, when legendary short seller Jim Chanos made an unusual statement: he was long Bitcoin but short MSTR. Coming from someone who built a career attacking companies he viewed as overvalued, this helped shape a new narrative; you could be bullish on Bitcoin, but still target MicroStrategy separately. It created the first psychological separation between BTC and the corporation holding the largest corporate treasury.
A turning point came in July, when JPMorgan abruptly raised margin requirements on MSTR from 50% to 95%. That single adjustment forced many traders to reduce exposure, triggered margin calls, and cut trading volume. It was the first structural squeeze on MSTR shares, and many now see it as the first domino.
Just one month later, in August, JPMorgan quietly released documentation for a structured product tied to BlackRock’s IBIT. According to Bull Theory, banks were already preparing their own Bitcoin-linked instruments; quietly, and months before MicroStrategy’s index eligibility became headline news.
Then came October 10. MSCI published its consultation note warning that companies holding more than 50% of their assets in Bitcoin or digital assets could be removed from their indexes if their operations resembled a digital-asset treasury. This was a direct shot at MicroStrategy. And here the connection becomes harder to ignore: MSCI stands for Morgan Stanley Capital International, originally created by Morgan Stanley. Four days after that consultation note, Morgan Stanley itself filed with the SEC for a structured product tied to IBIT. So the same ecosystem raising concerns about Bitcoin-heavy companies also happened to be rolling out Bitcoin exposure products at the same time.
JP MORGAN MANIPULATION of MSTR IS WAY BEYOND YOU THINK.
— Bull Theory (@BullTheoryio) November 27, 2025
Here's how everything was planned.
Let’s start with an important name: Jim Chanos.
He is one of the most well-known short sellers on Wall Street.
He has built his career by shorting companies he thinks are overvalued.… pic.twitter.com/tNluhjxyC4
A Pattern Too Clean to Ignore
Two weeks ago, JPMorgan followed with its own IBIT-linked structured note, pushing the pattern forward. But the moment that truly raised flags came on November 20, when JPMorgan published documents to begin selling that product, and, on the exact same day, resurrected the MSCI removal risk for MSTR. The MSCI note was already 42 days old, but JPMorgan brought it back into the spotlight precisely when their new note was ready for market.
This is the overlap that convinced many traders the timeline was not a coincidence. The pattern they now see looks like this: plant doubts around Bitcoin-heavy companies, amplify index fears, launch new bank-issued Bitcoin exposure products, and then let capital shift from MSTR into these IBIT-linked instruments.
Bull Theory points out that this type of playbook has precedent. In 2017, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon famously called Bitcoin “a fraud,” sending the price down sharply. Months later, reports showed JPMorgan’s wealth clients were quietly accumulating BTC. Public narratives and private positioning often move in opposite directions, something the crypto market has learned many times.
All of this gained even more weight because the MSCI announcement came during a moment when both Bitcoin and MSTR were already under pressure. Liquidity was thin, sentiment was weak, and volatility was rising. When JPMorgan reintroduced the index-removal story, the timing amplified that weakness. Michael Saylor eventually stepped in to clarify the situation, which helped stabilize the market, but the sequence of events was already cemented in traders’ minds.
Bull Theory’s conclusion isn’t that there is definitive proof of manipulation. It’s that the timing of institutional actions, product launches, margin requirement changes, and index warnings align too neatly for comfort. And when the same institutions releasing Bitcoin exposure products are also shaping narratives about companies like MicroStrategy, traders naturally begin to ask whether the flow of capital is being guided rather than organically shifting.
At the very least, this timeline shows how institutions can influence markets long before retail participants realize what’s happening. And as more IBIT-linked structured notes roll out, MSTR may remain at the center of a quiet but very real tug-of-war between corporate Bitcoin holders and traditional financial giants who now want their own share of Bitcoin’s upside.
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