The mysterious Bitcoin whale—widely speculated to be a savvy trader with possible insider edges—has indeed ramped up its bearish stance on BTC.
A Bitcoin OG original gangster whale, who accumulated 86,000 BTC in 2011 when BTC was ~$0.78, opened a massive $1.1B short position on BTC and ETH via Hyperliquid just 30 minutes before Trump’s 100% tariff announcement on Chinese imports.
The market plunged, allowing the whale to close 90% of the BTC short and the full ETH short, pocketing ~$192M in realized profits in one day. This entity still holds ~49,634 BTC worth $5.43B.
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This entity, which netted approximately $192 million in profits by shorting Bitcoin and Ethereum just minutes before President Trump’s October 10, 2025, announcement of 100% tariffs on Chinese imports triggering a 17% BTC crash and $19.5 billion in market-wide liquidations, has now added significant leverage to its playbook.
Closely with reports from October 12, 2025, detailing this whale’s fresh $160 million short on the decentralized perpetuals exchange Hyperliquid—though some on-chain trackers and social buzz peg the incremental add at around $46 million to an existing position, pushing the total active BTC short exposure to $209 million.
The variance might stem from how positions are aggregated across leverage layers or wallets, but the core narrative holds. The whale deployed $160 million in fresh capital for a 10x leveraged BTC short, equivalent to ~1,300 BTC at current prices $123,000/BTC as of October 13.
This builds on prior shorts, bringing the cumulative active position to ~$209 million notional value— a hefty bet against any near-term rally. The position faces wipeout if BTC surges above ~$125,500 per Hyperliquid’s mechanics, which is just ~2% above spot levels today.
Unrealized profits sit at ~$3.5 million so far, as BTC hovers in the $120k–$123k range post-crash recovery. A deeper pullback to $110k could flip this to $20M+ gains, echoing the whale’s tariff-timed windfall.
This isn’t the whale’s first rodeo. On October 8–9, it liquidated 3,000 BTC for $364 million in USDC at ~$121k/BTC, then flipped proceeds into $1.1 billion in leveraged shorts across BTC $753M notional, 10x and ETH ~$353M, 12x on Hyperliquid and Binance—mere hours before the tariff tweetstorm.
The crash liquidated 1.66 million traders and depegged assets like USDE and BNSOL, but this whale emerged unscathed, closing most positions for that $192M haul. Was it luck, algorithmic precision, or something more? Blockchain sleuths point to wallet “0x5D2F” active on Hyperliquid as a prime suspect, with ties to exchange insiders like ex-exec Garrett Jin.
X is ablaze with copycat calls and liquidation hunts—posts from influencers like @lookonchain and @RoundtableSpace highlight the drama, with some eyeing a “weekend pump” to torch the position.
At 10x leverage, this screams conviction in downside—perhaps anticipating tariff fallout, Fed signals, or ETF outflows. BTC’s 17% drop exposed over-leverage; another leg down could cascade $10B+ in fresh liquidations.
Bulls note the whale’s vulnerability—a 2–3% spike (e.g., to $127k) liquidates it outright, potentially fueling a short squeeze. On-chain data shows mixed whale flows: some accumulating 53k+ BTC in Q3, hinting at long-term faith.
Crypto’s reeling from the crash, but inflows hit $5.9B in early October ETFs. Watch for rotation into ETH up 9% post-crash or altcoins. If this is your thesis or a trade idea, tread lightly—whales like this thrive on chaos, but markets love to humble them.
A 140,000x return on original holdings, plus $192M cashed out in hours. Speculation abounds about insider ties due to the timing—on-chain analyst Maartunn noted potential U.S. government connections from the whale’s early days.
The whale reopened a $163M BTC short at 10x leverage now up to 20x, totaling $210M exposure on 1,823 BTC. Entry: $116,812; $120,993; Unrealized Profit: $3.5M–$3.8M. Community buzz calls this an “insider whale,” with X posts questioning if it’s Eric Trump as an unverified rumor.