whales

Bitcoin’s recent surge to $123,000 sparked one of 2025’s biggest sell-offs, with miners and early whales cashing in $3.5 billion in profits. While this pushed BTC down to $118,229, analysts see the pullback as healthy consolidation before the next leg up.

Miners Lead the Selling Spree

16,000 BTC moved to exchanges July 15 (largest since April)
Miner reserves dropped to 65,000 BTC (1-month low)
Typical behavior after ATHs to cover operational costs

Bitcoin miner sales surged.

Outflows hit 16K BTC, the highest since April, and nearly all of it went to exchanges as BTC hit a new all-time high.

Dive into our weekly report for all the details ⤵️https://t.co/BMZc87rr11 pic.twitter.com/2BMpvMdfGK
— CryptoQuant.com (@cryptoquant_com) July 18, 2025

Whales Join the Profit-Taking

Total exchange inflows hit 81,000 BTC (vs. 19,000 BTC days prior)
Includes a Satoshi-era whale dumping 40,000 BTC
56% of profits came from long-term holders ($1.96B)

Why this matters:
Early investors selling is normal at peaks, but the market absorbed the volume with only a 4% dip—showing strong demand.

Bullish Signs Despite Sell-Off

1️⃣ Institutional interest growing worldwide
2️⃣ Pro-crypto US legislation improving sentiment
3️⃣ Technical support holding at $118K

As CryptoQuant noted:

“This is classic bull market behavior—profit-taking refreshes the rally.”

A crypto whale has taken a massive gamble on PEPE, placing a 10x leveraged long position worth $27.53 million on Hyperliquid. However, as PEPE’s price drops, the position faces a serious risk of liquidation.

With unrealized losses exceeding $3.2 million, the whale has injected an additional $3.8 million USDC to stay afloat. But if PEPE falls to $0.005219, the position could be forcibly closed, triggering cascading sell-offs and further market volatility.

How Leverage Could Worsen the Sell-Off

Leverage amplifies both gains and losses. Even small price movements can cause major swings in the whale’s account balance. If PEPE’s decline continues, Hyperliquid’s automated liquidation system will close the position, potentially sparking a market-wide ripple effect.

https://twitter.com/ai_9684xtpa/status/1906191581532799295

Mass liquidations often lead to panic selling, worsening price drops. With PEPE already down 5% in the last 24 hours, traders are on edge.

Market Manipulation Concerns

Some speculate the whale is trying to prop up PEPE’s price by adding more margin. However, if they eventually exit their position, it could cause panic among smaller investors, driving the price even lower.

PEPE’s meme coin status makes it highly sensitive to market sentiment, making this a particularly risky bet. External factors like regulatory news or shifting trader interest could push prices down further.

Ethereum Faces Similar Leverage Risks

The PEPE whale isn’t alone. A well-known trader, CBB, has also opened a 10x leveraged long position on Ethereum (ETH) worth $2.11 million. Currently, they are facing a $1.03 million unrealized loss, having entered at $2,730—a price now proving too high in the current market downturn.

https://twitter.com/ai_9684xtpa/status/1906194017098113488

While CBB’s margin buffer is larger, these cases highlight the dangers of excessive leverage, especially in a declining market.

What’s Next for PEPE and the Crypto Market?

If PEPE nears the whale’s liquidation price, other traders may start preemptively selling, creating a snowball effect. This could send PEPE and other meme coins tumbling, increasing broader market volatility.

With highly leveraged positions under pressure, the next few days could be critical for both PEPE and Ethereum.