Crypto markets are facing renewed volatility as large whale wallets reposition across Bitcoin, Ethereum and selected altcoins. Bitcoin climbed above $80,000 last week but has since slipped to roughly $78,000, while on-chain data from Lookonchain shows an increase in high-value transfers.
Whale James Wynn closed a short position in Bitcoin at a loss and then opened a new 30x leveraged long position, signaling a shift in directional sentiment. In altcoins, one large wallet spent 181 ETH, worth about $443,000, to buy 7.99 million PONS about a month ago, then sold the entire position at a $308,000 loss; if held, the stake would now be worth around $3.46 million.
Hyperliquid also drew whale interest. Address 0x6436 purchased 141,442 HYPE for $11.88 million, while another whale who bought 488,599 HYPE at $35 each five months ago staked the full amount and is sitting on $23.7 million in unrealized profit.
Ethereum whales are especially active on the selling side. One large holder sold 167,855 ETH worth $408 million and still holds 97,115 ETH worth $237 million. Separately, a whale linked to the ShapeShift era deposited 103,252 ETH, or about $253 million, to multiple exchanges in three days, while still holding 64,603 ETH worth $155.8 million and withdrawing $4.35 million in USDT.
The deposits add to exchange supply and could weigh on Ethereum’s short-term price. Traders are watching whether continued institutional interest, including Standard Chartered’s bullish long-term Ethereum target of $40,000, will offset the selling pressure.
