Is Bitcoin's price correlated with CME Bitcoin futures?

Analysts have pointed out that Bitcoin's price rises and falls in line with settlement dates for CME Bitcoin futures contracts.

CME Group's Bitcoin futures contracts were hailed as the bridge between institutional and retail investors.

According to Luke Martin, host of the Coinist Podcast, there is a correlation between CME Bitcoin futures contract settlement dates and the Bitcoin price.

In July, Martin found that Bitcoin plunged 12.8 percent two weeks before CME contract expiration and down 6.9 percent one week before expiration.

Bitcoin suffered a 7.9 percent decline two weeks before CME's futures expired and remained down 6 percent one week afterward.

Even though CME Bitcoin contract settlement doesn't perfectly predict Bitcoin price movement, the high volatility around settlement dates show signs of market manipulation.

As a matter of fact, a new report by Arcane Research found that Bitcoin dropped 75 percent of the time before CME futures contracts settled.

Schei maintains that these figures support the hypothesis that Bitcoin is manipulated in advance of CME futures expiration date.

Notably, a few hours before CME Bitcoin futures are set to expire on Sept. 27 BTC moved below $8,000.

Although there are a myriad of factors that affect the Bitcoin price, the data suggests that futures contracts settlement may act as another indicator.