Whale stands in line after big dump! BitMine spends 1.5 billion to buy ETH, Andrew Kang shorts BTC for 68 million.

Crypto Assets Whales are becoming increasingly active in the derivatives and Spot markets, indicating a strategic repositioning. Ethereum fund management company BitMine has increased its holdings of ETH valued at $1.5 billion, showing that institutions are regaining confidence in the long-term fundamentals of Ethereum. However, Andrew Kang's associated Wallet has opened short positions valued at $68 million, betting on the fall of Bitcoin and Ethereum.

Whale Long and Short Battle, $250 Million Position Narrowing Losses

A wave of whale activity swept through the derivatives market. Traders alternated between defensive short positions and high-leverage long positions on Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Ethena (ENA), striving to stay ahead amid volatility. According to on-chain analysts, a whale that shorted BTC last week has turned bullish, holding approximately $250 million in BTC and ETH.

The trader's portfolio includes a 15x long position of 1,610.93 BTC (worth 173 million USD) and a 3x long position of 19,894.21 ETH (worth 77.4 million USD). Despite previous losses exceeding 10 million USD, the current unrealized loss has narrowed to approximately 3.1 million USD. This narrowing of losses indicates that the whales have a better grasp on the bottom-fishing timing, and the market rebound has shifted their positions from deep underwater to shallow losses, potentially turning losses into profits with continued rebounds.

The choice of 15x and 3x leverage reflects risk management strategies. The use of higher leverage for BTC may be based on its relatively lower volatility and best liquidity, while the lower leverage for ETH is due to its higher volatility. This differentiated leverage configuration is a typical characteristic of mature traders, rather than blindly using the highest leverage.

At the same time, some investors are going against the trend. A Whale deposited 30 million USDC into Hyperliquid and established a 10x short position, holding 700 BTC, worth about 75.5 million USD. On-chain analysts posted, “Entry price of $109,133.1, liquidation price of $150,082.9, currently unrealized profit of $455,000.” This liquidation price is set extremely high, indicating that the Whale is very confident that BTC will not rebound significantly, as they will only be liquidated if BTC rises to $150,000.

Even more shocking is that the same investor previously profited 160 million dollars by shorting Bitcoin during the crash on October 11. This successful experience may have strengthened their belief in continuing to short, thinking that the market has not yet reached its bottom. A single trade profit of 160 million dollars is extremely rare in the history of crypto assets, demonstrating that this Whale's market judgment and risk tolerance are at a top level.

Andrew Kang Contradictory Operation: Short BTC, Long ENA

(Source: Hyperliquid)

Further exacerbating market differentiation is that the wallet associated with Andrew Kang has opened a new short positions worth 68 million dollars, which includes 10,275 ETH with 25 times leverage and 269 BTC with 40 times leverage. The 40 times leverage is an extremely aggressive operation, where just a 2.5% reverse fluctuation would trigger liquidation. This high leverage indicates that Kang has a very strong directional judgment on the short-term trend.

Interestingly, although Kang is bearish on mainstream coins, he still holds long positions in ENA, indicating selective confidence in certain altcoins. Reports suggest that his net trading profit in the past week was about $5.6 million. This “short mainstream long altcoin” strategy reflects a deep understanding of market structure: when BTC and ETH are in consolidation or falling, some funds may flow into specific altcoins in search of alpha returns.

Other traders also show an optimistic attitude towards ENA while holding short positions in the two largest crypto assets. According to Lookonchain data, a whale named 0x579f holds a mixed position worth approximately $70 million, including short positions of 232 BTC ($25 million) and 5,810 ETH ($22.7 million), as well as a long position of 44.79 million ENA ($21.3 million).

Why has ENA (Ethena) gained the favor of Whales? Ethena is a synthetic dollar protocol, and its stablecoin USDe provides returns through a Delta-neutral strategy. During market volatility, the high yield of USDe (annualized 20-30%) attracts a large influx of capital, driving ENA's price performance. Whales may believe that even if BTC and ETH continue to fall, Ethena's yield products can still maintain demand, making ENA a safe haven in a bear market.

Nevertheless, some traders still hold a bearish view on ENA, indicating that even within the whale community, there are differing opinions on ENA. This divergence makes the market more complex and unpredictable.

BitMine $1.5 billion buys against the trend in El Salvador

As major Crypto Assets participants adjust their portfolios, the Spot market has also seen a significant influx of funds, with some Whales seizing the opportunity to buy the dip. The actions of the Ethereum fund management company BitMine are particularly noteworthy, as they increased their holdings of ETH worth $1.5 billion. This is the largest single institutional buy during this round of adjustments, equivalent to approximately 380,000 ETH (calculated at an average price of $3,950).

Despite recent market turbulence, this large-scale purchase indicates that institutions are regaining confidence in the long-term fundamentals of Ethereum. BitMine, a fund management company focused on Ethereum, may base its buying decision on the influx of funds into ETH Spot ETFs, the expansion of Layer 2 ecosystems, and the increase in institutional adoption rates. The investment scale of $1.5 billion shows that this is not short-term speculation, but rather a strategic allocation.

El Salvador ha aumentado silenciosamente sus reservas de Bitcoin, añadiendo 8 Bitcoins en la última semana. Este país de América Central ahora posee un total de 6,355.18 Bitcoins, con un valor de aproximadamente 686 millones de dólares. Aunque la adición de 8 BTC no es una gran cantidad, su significado simbólico es importante. El Salvador es el primer país en el mundo en hacer del Bitcoin una moneda de curso legal, y su compra continua muestra una firme creencia en el valor a largo plazo del Bitcoin; este respaldo a nivel nacional tiene un impacto positivo en el sentimiento del mercado.

In the past week, major centralized exchanges saw a net outflow of about 21,000 BTC, with Coinbase Pro and Binance leading the way, experiencing net outflows of 15,000 BTC and 12,000 BTC, respectively. Outflows from exchanges are generally seen as a bullish signal, as investors tend to withdraw tokens to private wallets for long-term holding rather than short-term trading. The 21,000 BTC is equivalent to about 2.27 billion USD, and such a scale of outflow indicates that a large number of whales are accumulating during the dips and transferring to cold wallets for storage.

The activity is not limited to the top two ranked Crypto Assets. In the Chainlink (LINK) ecosystem, a newly created Wallet withdrew 142,428 LINK from Binance, worth approximately $2.4 million. Analysts reported: “LINK seems to have been withdrawn in large amounts. In 12 hours, 892,460 LINK (approximately $15 million) was withdrawn from Binance. In the past week, 2.31 million LINK (approximately $40.76 million) was withdrawn from Binance.”

The large-scale withdrawal of LINK may be related to the growth of its oracle business. Chainlink, as the leading decentralized oracle, provides price data services for thousands of DeFi protocols. The Whale's withdrawal of LINK might be aimed at participating in staking to earn yields or being optimistic about its application prospects in the RWA tokenization field. The weekly withdrawal amount of $40.76 million indicates that institutional-level allocation is underway.

The high-leverage positions in the derivatives market and the stable accumulation in the spot market highlight a differentiated yet vibrant market. Some whales are betting on further declines in the market, while others are quietly accumulating positions, indicating their belief that the most volatile period in October may have passed. This differentiation is actually a healthy market characteristic, as a consensus among all participants often signifies that a trend is nearing its end, while the current divergence shows that the market is still searching for direction.