[nikcub]

The 'debunking' was an alternate theory that didn't hold up to real scrutiny.

If the idea was a 'dark pool' to obfuscate their trades, not signal the market, spike the price, or avoid front running - then they failed spectacularly on every account.

the bots made up a large proportion of total value, they traded in a predictable pattern and were spotted quickly within days (and then taken advantage of by other traders), had unlimited buy demand which continued through a 2x+ increase in the btc price - defeating the purpose of spreading the order out.

it also doesn't explain why the bots trades continued while the API was down.

and finally, connecting to a dark pool should still show normal trading patterns, which the bot patterns were completely unlike (hence them being spotted).