Suspected insider trading again? Twenty minutes before the opening of the Hormuz Strait, a mysterious trader dumped $760 million in short positions, accurately shorting crude oil.

``` A massive short position placed 20 minutes before the news release has once again brought the “mysterious trading” in the crude oil market into the spotlight. On April 17, about 20 minutes before the Iranian foreign minister announced a full reopening of the Strait of Hormuz to all commercial vessels, a short position in crude oil futures worth about $760 million was quietly established. Once the news broke, oil prices fell as much as 11% that day. According to Reuters, this is the third time in recent months that such an incident has occurred—major policy announcements are always preceded by someone taking heavy short positions in crude oil. The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has launched an investigation into this. According to a person familiar with the matter, the CFTC is investigating a series of oil futures trades, including those on March 23 and April 7, both of which took place before major policy statements by Trump concerning the Iran conflict. 20 Minutes, 7,990 Lots, $760 Million Data from the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) shows that between 12:24 and 12:25 Greenwich Mean Time on April 17, investors sold a total of 7,990 lots of Brent crude oil futures in just one minute, worth about $760 million at the time. At 12:45 GMT, the Iranian foreign minister announced on platform X that during the remaining ceasefire period, the Strait of Hormuz would be “fully open” to all commercial vessels, using language consistent with the Lebanese ceasefire agreement. Within minutes of the announcement, the intraday decline in oil prices widened to as much as 11%. The short position was established only 20 minutes before the announcement. Three Trades, One Pattern This was not an isolated incident. According to earlier Reuters reports, there have been two other similar trades recently: On April 7, just hours before the U.S. and Iran announced a two-week ceasefire agreement, a short position worth about $950 million in crude oil was quietly established. On March 23, 15 minutes before Trump announced a postponement of attacks on Iranian energy infrastructure, investors sold about $500 million worth of crude oil futures, after which oil prices dropped 15%. The combined value of the three trades exceeds $2.2 billion, and all were executed in the extremely narrow window before major policy announcements. This highly consistent timing is the central reason for regulatory scrutiny. U.S. Regulators Step In The exceptional precision of the timing in these trades has attracted heightened vigilance from U.S. lawmakers and legal experts—they worry that the information asymmetry in war and diplomatic decisions is being converted by certain traders into profit-making advantages in the derivatives market. According to sources cited by Reuters, the CFTC has launched a formal investigation into these trades, focusing especially on those from March 23 and April 7. U.S. lawmakers and legal experts point out that war and diplomatic decisions are inherently opaque, and if some market participants gain access to relevant information before it is made public, the fairness of the derivatives market is severely compromised. Currently, the CFTC has not publicly disclosed the progress of the investigation, and the identities of the traders involved have not been confirmed. Risk Warning and Disclaimer Markets have risks, and investment should be done cautiously. This article does not constitute individual investment advice and does not take into account the specific investment objectives, financial situation, or needs of individual users. Users should consider whether any opinions, views, or conclusions in this article are suitable for their specific situation. Investment based on this is done at one’s own risk. ```