Crypto Market Rebounds: Are Whales Betting on Recovery or Further Drops?
Crypto Whales Spark Market Moves – The crypto market closed the weekend in green, bouncing back from a week mostly characterized by declines. Over the past 24 hours, total market capitalization rose by 1.1%, hinting at a modest but welcome recovery after October’s turbulence.
Whale Activity Explodes in Derivatives: BTC, ETH, and ENA See Mixed Bets
Crypto whales have been highly active in both derivatives and spot markets, repositioning their portfolios to navigate ongoing volatility. One notable whale who had shorted Bitcoin (BTC) last week flipped bullish, now holding around $250 million in BTC and Ethereum (ETH). This trader carries a 15x long on 1,610.93 BTC ($173 million) and a 3x long on 19,894.21 ETH ($77.4 million). Despite previously suffering losses over $10 million, the unrealized deficit has narrowed to approximately $3.1 million.
Conversely, another whale took a different approach by depositing 30 million USDC into Hyperliquid and opening a 10x short position on 700 BTC worth roughly $75.5 million. This trader entered at $109,133.1 with a liquidation price of $150,082.9, currently sitting on an unrealized profit of $455,000. Notably, the same investor earned $160 million shorting BTC during the October 11 crash.
Adding to bearish pressure, Andrew Kang’s linked wallets opened $68 million in new short positions, including 10,275 ETH at 25x leverage and 269 BTC at 40x leverage. Still, Kang maintains a long position on Ethena (ENA), reflecting selective optimism in altcoins, reportedly netting around $5.6 million in profits over the week.
Spot Market Moves: Institutional Confidence Shines Despite Volatility
In the spot market, institutional players seized the dip. Ethereum treasury firm BitMine made headlines by adding $1.5 billion worth of ETH to its holdings, signaling renewed confidence in Ethereum’s fundamentals.
El Salvador quietly increased its Bitcoin reserves by 8 BTC, now holding 6,355.18 BTC. Meanwhile, major exchanges saw a net outflow of roughly 21,000 BTC last week, led by Coinbase Pro (15,000 BTC) and Binance (12,000 BTC) withdrawals.
Activity wasn’t confined to BTC and ETH. The Chainlink (LINK) ecosystem saw a massive withdrawal, with a new wallet pulling out 142,428 LINK (~$2.4 million) from Binance. Over the past week, Binance saw approximately 2.31 million LINK (~$40.76 million) withdrawn, indicating steady accumulation.
