### What's going on in that interview (and who "they" likely refers to)
The interview you're talking about is Tom Lee's appearance on CNBC's *Power Lunch* (hosted by Brian Sullivan) on November 20, 2025. Tom explained the ongoing crypto sell-off (Bitcoin had dropped from ~$126K in early October to the mid-$80K range by then) as fallout from a massive liquidation cascade on **October 10, 2025**.
Key points he made:
- A "software bug/glitch" on **one exchange** caused a major stablecoin to briefly de-peg internally (wicking down to ~$0.65).
- This triggered auto-deleveraging (ADL) across multiple exchanges — the largest liquidation event in crypto history (bigger than FTX), wiping out nearly 2 million accounts in minutes.
- Several major **market makers** (the firms that provide liquidity and act like "central banks" for crypto trading) got severely damaged — huge holes blown in their balance sheets.
- Those market makers have spent the last 6+ weeks de-risking, reducing leverage, and selling assets to repair themselves, creating this slow, reflexive bleed lower.
- Tom explicitly said he **knows who "they" (the crippled market makers) are** but refused to name them on air ("it's not convenient" / he doesn't want to throw them under the bus while they're still recovering).
Community speculation (strongest theory right now):
- The glitch is widely believed to have originated on **Bybit** (some traders and influencers are pointing fingers directly at a Bybit-specific stablecoin pricing error that cascaded out).
- The damaged market makers aren't publicly confirmed, but names quietly circulating in crypto circles include big players like **Wintermute**, **Cumberland (DRW)**, **Jump Crypto**, or possibly **GSR** — firms known for heavy perpetuals/futures market-making. No one has hard proof yet, and Tom Lee (plus others like Multicoin Capital folks) have hinted they know but are staying quiet to preserve relationships.
Tom remains bullish longer-term: he thinks we're in the final 1–2 weeks of this deleveraging pain, and the rebound could be sharp once liquidity normalizes.
If you have a link to the exact clip/post you're referencing, feel free to share — happy to dig deeper!
