Bitcoin's recent price patterns bear striking resemblance to ETF-driven trading cycles. These short-term, tax-motivated positions are more mechanical than emotional—they're simply traders optimizing their year-end portfolios, not reflections of genuine market conviction. The disconnect is notable: the chart movements lack the organic flow you'd expect from real sentiment shifts. When you strip away the ETF rebalancing noise, the underlying price action tells a different story from what the surface volatility suggests.