At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $111,334 down 3% in the past 24 hours, according to CoinGecko. Ethereum stands at $4,540 down 4% over the same period.

The decline followed a short rally that had pushed Bitcoin above $117,000 and Ethereum close to $4,900. That move was fueled by comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell about the potential for a rate cut. However, Kronos Research CIO Vincent Liu told The Block that the rally was more a product of thin liquidity than broad investor conviction. Once leverage decreased and no fresh catalysts emerged, momentum quickly faded.

The Whale Factor

Speculation grew on X about a major Bitcoin holder allegedly offloading more than 24,000 BTC in recent days, driving prices lower. WhaleWire CEO Jacob King shared screenshots showing wallet 19D5J…WoZ1C moving between 3,000 and 6,000 BTC per transaction to various addresses.

Reports suggest that much of the capital was shifted into Ethereum: about $2 billion was used to purchase ETH, with $1.3 billion staked. Blockchain.com data indicates the wallet executed six transactions totaling 24,000 BTC within nine days. Analyst MLM noted that the same whale also accumulated Ethereum via other wallets, with 275,500 ETH (about $1.3 billion) staked. The whale also opened a long position of 135,263 ETH on Hyperliquid, pushing the total ETH exposure to more than $2.6 billion. According to MLM, this strategy generated roughly $185 million in profit trading the ETH/BTC pair.

Eventually, as the whale began closing positions, the market recognized the strategy and a cascade of sell-offs followed. “He basically front-ran those trying to front-run him,” MLM commented.

TimechainIndex.com founder Sani added that the whale still holds around 152,874 BTC across other wallets, funds originally withdrawn from HTX six years ago and untouched until mid-August.

Market Views

Kronos Research’s Vincent Liu argued it is difficult to pin the drop on one entity, suggesting several large players or even an exchange with significant reserves may have contributed.

Analyst Willy Woo pointed out that the slow price growth of Bitcoin in this cycle is partly due to selling from “old whales.” He estimates that for every Bitcoin sold by these long-term holders, markets need capital inflows of over $110,000 to absorb it. These investors had accumulated coins as early as 2011 at prices around $10, making their actions highly influential for current market trends.

Earlier, FORECK.INFO reported on which altcoins investors refuse to sell under any circumstances — read more here.