Before the disclosure of the Iran-U.S. agreement news, the crude oil market suddenly saw $1.7 billion in short positions, and Axios was accused of "collaborating to short sell."

BlockBeats News, on May 7, about an hour before the U.S. media Axios reported “The United States and Iran are close to reaching a ceasefire memorandum,” the WTI crude oil futures market suddenly saw an abnormal short position of over $1.7 billion, raising market concerns about insider trading and information leaks ahead of time.

Data shows that roughly from 3:40 to 4:10 a.m. Eastern Time, with no major news in the background, the market concentrated on establishing nearly 10,000 oil short contracts, with a notional value of about $920 million. About 70 minutes later, citing U.S. officials, Axios reported that the U.S. and Iran were nearing agreement on a “14 Points Agreement” to end the conflict; afterward, oil prices quickly plunged by more than 12%, and related short positions temporarily had unrealized gains of about $125 million.

Multiple energy trading professionals said trading in the early-morning hours is usually slow, and such large-scale, precise trading is “extremely unusual,” leading to suspicions that some traders may have obtained the information in advance. Axios reporters denied accusations that they colluded with market participants to “stage a scheme.”

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has previously been reported to be investigating abnormal trading activities related to “real social” posts and media coverage. U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren also publicly questioned whether the related trades “look like insider trading.”

In addition, Iran’s parliament speaker Kalibaf publicly dismissed Axios’s report about the “U.S.-Iran agreement,” saying it is a “false media narrative,” and mockingly referred to it as “Operation Fauxios (Fake News Action).”