The current state of the crypto market is like a whale group battle. In the market we have several whales holding millions in bitcoin and staring each other down. This is a high stakes battle in which if one whale moves, the other one will pounce. There is no doubt that October 2025 has turned into an ultimate test of nerves for Bitcoin whales. Bitcoin short term holder whales are sitting on their fat paper profits of the cycle at about $10.1 billion. This has created a kind of tension that would make even gamblers nervous. If they decide to cash in, the markets will suffer, while other whales are looking forward to the selling of Bitcoin so that they can accumulate some more!
Currently we are standing at a position where if one of them decides to put marketing moving sell orders, Bitcoin prices will tumble so fast than the previous flash crash. And at the same time, other whales are holding their buy button to accumulate more coins at lower prices. So, who is going to win? Well, let’s dig in, maybe we will be able to find an answer.
When whales get jitters markets bleed
There are entities that hold more than 1000 BTC and they only entered the market in the past 5 months. This includes big institutions and governments and we call these the weak hands that can crash the market anytime. After all, these are the entities that usually fold first when volatility spikes. I have seen several X accounts highlighting such entities selling some of their holdings before major news or announcements by Donald Trump.
The real uncertainty and jitters usually also comes when massive amounts of BTC are moved from old dormant accounts. Recently, drama kicked into overdrive when a colossal movement of 32322 Bitcoin, valued at 3.93 billion, from wallets that had been dormant for 3 to 5 years sent shockwaves through the markets. This usually occurs when whales are looking forward to taking profits. And if they do take profit, prices of Bitcoin plummet and the other whales will buy the dip.
In addition the real plot twist came when one whale sold over 35000 Bitcoin worth $4.23 billion via Hyperliquid. That was not the only issue because the whale went on to exchange the BTC for 570000 ETH and staked all of it. Now, this caused an uproar as it looked like the guy was running from BTC to ETH. When such a large amount of money is exchanged for a large amount of money, people tend to be left with a lot of unanswered questions!
The great liquidation massacre of October 2025
If there is a date that will be in the books of crypto history forever it's the 10th of October 2025. On this day more than 1.6 million traders suffered a combined $19.37 billion in liquidations on leveraged positions over a 24 hour period This became known as the largest ever liquidation event in the history of crypto.
The catalyst was probably the currently most hated person currently by retail traders, the president of the United States, Donald Trump. Donald Trump vowed to impose massive tariffs on China. In a few minutes billions in leveraged positions were wiped off the crypto market. This became a painful reminder that one tweet or social post from a prominent account can move the markets more effectively than a decade of fundamental analysis.
On this day Bitcoin plummeted by over 18% and briefly fell to around $101000. Some whales sold and took profit, while others rushed to buy the coin at the lowest price of the crash. Many other accounts with leveraged positions turned from being digital gold printers to digital dust. And this was a reminder that even digital gold is just a piece of cod and it can turn into digital dust quickly.
Most whales feed on insider knowledge
Now, being good at sniffing around on X, I have come across several news articles about a highly accurate Bitcoin whale who only makes movements before a major announcement. Other X accounts actually believe that this Bitcoin whale may be someone in President Trump’s inner circle or even family. As a result, they believe that this whale makes use of insider knowledge to trade before major announcements to make a killing on the market.
Just before the October 10 crash, this whale deposited capital and placed massive Bitcoin short positions. And they were so accurate that they cashed out big from the flash market crash and made millions. Recently the same whale has deposited more Bitcoin to Kraken and maintained $140 million in short positions before cashing out big. Either this whale has a magic crystal ball to snoop on White House discussions or they have been reading the market’s daily plans and diary.
Lets be real, if any of us would make $190-$200 million in 24 hours we would retire whole clans. This whale behaviour before major announcements have shown that some whale trading decisions may be made with insider knowledge. This is a big privilege enjoyed by whales with millions, after all, at the same time, retail traders will be looking at charts and drawing lines in a bid to extract a few coins from the market.
So, who is blinking first
The truth is that it's not so easy to know who blinks first. Exchange inflow data showed that $5.7 billion moved from short term data wallets into exchanges. This suggests that some whales are taking profits however, there are also others who are doubling down on their bets.
Usually it's the short term holder whales who blink first especially when price reaches a new ATH. As they sell their Bitcoin holdings to make profit, prices plummet allowing those whales who have capital to accumulate more bitcoin at lower prices. Now, as other whales are taking profit, others will be adding short positions to make use of the dumping that occurs soon after.
With the recent massive crypto liquidations, it shows that the game of chicken being played by whales is not over. So far in October 2025, Bitcoin has been taking hits breaking a 6 year green streak that had become as reliable as a tea recipe. As a result, the historical Uptober has been converted to dumptober.
Currently, we have a market that has been caught in a delicate balance where if short term whales hit the sell button en masse, it would turn into a market disaster. We would see another large scale massive liquidation event. But at the same time there are whales buying the dip to accumulate more bitcoin. There is a tense situation that has been made worse by large institutional buyers who may sell at the first sign of things going south making everything worse. It's a high stakes game of chicken, where a large-scale shorting of bitcoin by whales will crash the markets, hopes and wallets. At the same time such an event is good for other whales who get a chance to accumulate bitcoin.
Or it's just the same whales who crash the markets by selling to get profits and buy at the lowest to accumulate more. Who knows?
Final thoughts and conclusion
In other words, there is a billion dollar standoff in the crypto markets and one thing is certain; in a game of crypto chicken, the house always wins. And in this case crypto and Bitcoin whales are the house. Retail traders will want a piece of the pie in this game, but most of them are just free exit liquidity. This game is a billion dollar game that can only be played if you have enough capital.
My Affiliate links
For crypto trading I use Okx and Kucoin:
https://www.kucoin.com/r/rf/QBSY1VX3
For forex trading I use justmarkets and FBS
https://fbs.partners?ibl=1028825&ibp=33282156
https://one.justmarkets.link/a/97t6p07ht2
For synthetics trading 24/7 markets I use deriv and Weltrade
https://track.gowt.me/visit/?bta=52354&brand=weltrade
References
- Bitcoin's Short-Term Whales Now Hold $10.1B in Paper Gains. Is a Cash Out Next? - CoinDesk
- BitcoinOG Whale Adds $140M BTC Short Position After Nailing 10-11 Crash - Coinspeaker
- Whale Awakening: $3.9 Billion Bitcoin Shift Triggers $620 Million Liquidations - FinancialContent
- The biggest crypto wipeout was led not by bitcoin, but much smaller tokens - CNBC
- Crypto Liquidations Hit $322,000,000 as Bitcoin Eyes Breaking 6-Year Bull Market Cycle - The Coin Republic
