Crypto whales are aggressively shorting altcoins, including Dogecoin (DOGE), XRP, and Pepe (PEPE), in preparation for Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's speech on the U.S. economic outlook scheduled for October 14, 2025. The address, titled "Economic Outlook and Monetary Policy," is set for 12:20 pm local time in Philadelphia and is expected to influence market sentiment significantly, with traders bracing for potential volatility.
According to on-chain data from LookOnChain, several large investors on the Hyperliquid platform have deployed substantial short positions. One whale, identified as 0x9eec9, holds approximately $98 million in short positions across DOGE, Ethereum (ETH), PEPE, XRP, and ASTER, with reported profits of $31.8 million. Another whale, 0x9263, has short positions on Solana (SOL) and Bitcoin (BTC) totaling around $84 million, with $13.2 million in profits. Additionally, a Bitcoin OG whale has increased its BTC short position to $492 million, reflecting a floating profit of $9 million.
The crypto market has already shown signs of stress, with the fear and greed index dropping from 64 (Greed) to 27 (Fear) over the weekend, its lowest level in six months. Bitcoin has declined by 2.88% in the past 24 hours, and Ethereum has fallen below the $4,000 mark. These corrections occur amid renewed U.S.-China trade tensions, adding to global economic uncertainty.
Traders are hedging against potential downturns, as a hawkish tone from Powell could signal delayed interest rate cuts or maintained high rates, tightening liquidity and reducing investment in riskier assets like cryptocurrencies. Lebanese-Australian entrepreneur Mario Nawfal has warned of expected "volatility" post-speech, underscoring the cautious stance among large holders aiming to lock in profits and minimize losses.
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