How Are "Crypto Whales" Behaving During the Market Recovery?

After the cryptocurrency market hit multi-month lows last week, it showed a rebound over the weekend. Notably, total market capitalization rose nearly 4% in the past 24 hours.

After the cryptocurrency market hit multi-month lows last week, it showed a rebound over the weekend. Notably, total market capitalization rose nearly 4% in the past 24 hours.

Despite this, “crypto whales” continued to act, moving millions of dollars into Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Chainlink (LINK), and Zcash (ZEC) — both in the spot and derivatives markets.

Major spot market players reshuffle their core holdings

During the market recovery, several notable transactions took place on the spot market as whales restructured their portfolios. An Ethereum trader who bought 6,028 ETH during the October 11 crash at $3,638 per coin exited the position with a small loss.

According to blockchain data, the trader sold all 6,028 ETH for 22.26 million USDC at an average price of $3,587, realizing a loss of $320,000.

One of Bitcoin’s early investors, Owen Ganden, also reduced his exposure to the leading cryptocurrency. On Saturday, OnChain Lens reported that he sent 500 BTC worth $51.68 million to the Kraken exchange.

The next day, he transferred another 600 BTC worth $61.17 million, likely preparing for a sale. Despite this, Ganden still holds 6,050 BTC worth $618.78 million.

Meanwhile, Chainlink saw capital inflows. Over three days, two new wallets withdrew about $2.9 million in LINK. Blockchain analysis showed these wallets withdrew a total of 187,500 LINK from Binance at an average price of $15.5.

Derivatives markets see extreme volatility

Leverage trading affected trends in the derivatives market, as several major players faced dramatic consequences. Yesterday, James Winn closed a 40x leveraged short position on BTC, earning $85,380 in profit. However, he later suffered losses after reopening another short position on Bitcoin.

“Due to the market recovery, James Winn has been liquidated 12 times in the past 12 hours. His account now holds only $6,010,” Lookonchain reported.

Another trader also failed due to a short BTC position. EmberCN noted that three days ago, the trader transferred 7 million USDC to Hyperliquid to open a short on Bitcoin, but constant stop-loss triggers reduced his position. In the end, the trader was left with $560,000, losing about $6.44 million.

While BTC whales betting against the market suffered losses, those who switched to long positions made gains. Lookonchain noted that the whale “Anti-CZ” shifted from shorts to longs on Ethereum, gaining over $15 million in unrealized profit.

Meanwhile, an investor known as “Brother Machi” has been steadily increasing his long position on ETH, now 25 times its original size — showing strong confidence in the bullish trend. Zcash also attracted notable attention from crypto whales in the derivatives market.

“The mysterious whale 0x6EF9, who opened a long position on ZEC using limit orders, has now closed it with a $1.25 million profit. Another new wallet (0x089f) deposited $3.54 million in USDC on the Hyperliquid exchange and opened a long position on ZEC with a $508.5 limit,” wrote Lookonchain.

Overall, the recent market rebound has triggered renewed whale activity in both spot and derivatives markets. While some large investors suffered major losses, others took advantage of volatility — reflecting continued confidence in assets such as Ethereum and Zcash.

Editor: Jerg Wos

#