Early Bitcoin Whale Shorted $1.1B Right Before Tariffs, Now Up $27M – How Did He Know?
A Satoshi-era Bitcoin whale opened over $1.1 billion in brief positions in opposition to BTC and ETH simply earlier than President Donald Trump introduced 100% tariffs on Chinese imports, producing an estimated $27 million in unrealized income as markets crashed.
The dealer, recognized by blockchain monitoring agency Lookonchain as a “Bitcoin OG” who held 86,000 BTC from 2011, deposited funds into Hyperliquid beginning October 9 to determine extremely leveraged bets in opposition to the crypto market’s high two belongings.
Whale Doubles Down 30 Minutes Before Trump Speech
The whale’s positions embody a 10x leveraged quick on 6,189 BTC valued at $752.9 million with a liquidation worth of $130,810, and a 12x leveraged quick on 81,203 ETH value $353.1 million with a liquidation worth of $4,589.
The timing sparked widespread hypothesis about insider data, with the dealer doubling down on shorts simply half-hour earlier than Trump’s tariff announcement that sent Bitcoin plunging from above $122,000 to briefly beneath $102,000.
According to on-chain analyst @mlmabc, the whale closed roughly 90% of Bitcoin shorts and utterly exited Ethereum positions on the backside of the drop, pocketing between $190 million and $200 million in realized income inside a single day.
Lookonchain knowledge shows the dealer started accumulating the quick positions on October 9 by depositing 80 million USDC into Hyperliquid, adopted by further deposits totaling tens of tens of millions all through the week main as much as the crash.
The market collapse triggered over 1.66 million liquidations in 24 hours, wiping out $19.33 billion in positions in line with CoinGlass knowledge.
Although Mlmabc argued that the “liquidation determine floating round is pretend, the actual quantity is probably going a lot greater, someplace within the $30B-$40B+ vary.”
Long positions accounted for $16.83 billion of losses, whereas shorts contributed over $2.49 billion.
Bitcoin and Ethereum led liquidations at $5.38 billion and $4.43 billion, respectively, adopted by Solana at $2.01 billion and XRP at $708 million.
Hyperliquid noticed the most important single liquidation, an ETH-USDT place value $203.36 million. According to Mlmbac, Hyperliquid alone noticed “practically $7B liquidated.”
Satoshi-Era Holder’s Trading History Fuels Conspiracy Theories
The whale’s identification traces again to 2011 when he collected 86,000 BTC throughout Bitcoin’s earliest years.
On-chain information present he bought 35,991 BTC value $4.43 billion beginning August 20 to buy 886,371 ETH valued at $4.07 billion at a 0.0406 alternate fee on Hyperliquid.
The dealer nonetheless holds 49,634 BTC value roughly $5.43 billion throughout 4 wallets, sustaining substantial publicity regardless of the aggressive shorting technique.
On October 8, simply sooner or later earlier than establishing the huge quick positions, the whale sold 3,000 BTC for 363.87 million USDC at a median worth of $121,291, positioning himself with vital stablecoin liquidity.
He then deployed 80 million USDC to open a 6x quick on 3,477 BTC value $419 million with a liquidation worth of $140,660, whereas depositing a further 50 million USDC into Binance for potential comparable trades.
The whale continued scaling positions all through October 10, depositing 30 million USDC to open a 12x quick on 76,242 ETH valued at $330 million with a liquidation worth of $4,613.
Community hypothesis intensified after crypto researcher Maartunn noted the correlation between the whale’s Satoshi-era origins and potential authorities connections, suggesting insider ties might have offered advance data of Trump’s tariff announcement.
This Bitcoin O.G.
> Held 86K BTC from the Satoshi-era (2011)
> Sold close to the highest in August 2025
> Started promoting once more round $122K (now)
> Opened quick positions on BTC & ETH
> Market dumped after tariff informationConnecting the dots: Satoshi-era OG have insider ties to the U.S.… https://t.co/ryJpya3mxP pic.twitter.com/Wtzqgs5ElP
— Maartunn (@JA_Maartun) October 10, 2025
Social media erupted with accusations of market manipulation, with a number of analysts calling the sequence “one of many greatest insider trades in historical past.”
Critics pointed to the exact timing of place will increase simply earlier than Trump’s speech, the whale’s exits at precise market bottoms, and the coordinated nature of linked wallets copying comparable trades inside hours.
Trump Tariffs Trigger Historic Deleveraging Event
President Trump announced the 100% tariff on Chinese imports scheduled for November 1 in response to Beijing’s new export restrictions on merchandise containing over 0.1% uncommon earth parts.
The tariff additionally contains new export controls concentrating on vital software program industries.
Trump later hinted he may reverse the tariffs if China adjustments course earlier than the deadline, probably triggering a short-term crypto market restoration.
The international crypto market cap fell over 9% in 24 hours to $3.8 trillion because the sell-off accelerated.
Bitcoin dropped from above $122,000 to round $113,600, wiping out all features since August earlier than briefly dipping beneath $102,000.
Ethereum and different main altcoins adopted comparable trajectories, with some belongings declining 60% to 90% in the course of the three-hour crash that erased roughly $1 trillion in market worth.
Analysts characterized the occasion as one of many yr’s most extreme liquidation episodes.
Despite the whale’s worthwhile exits, the crash left 1.66 million merchants liquidated and billions in losses locked in.
Trump’s approval rating fell to 40% amid the continuing authorities shutdown, with 86% of Polymarket merchants anticipating the shutdown to proceed previous October 15.
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