A Bitcoin whale has placed a highly leveraged $45 million bet, with a liquidation point at $105,000, while a rally to $125,000 could trigger a massive $5.6 billion in short liquidations. This comes as Bitcoin is trading just above $114,000, putting the whale’s stop-loss level close to the current price.
The market shows a clear divide between short-term and long-term holders. Data from Coinglass and CryptoQuant indicates that long-term holders are holding their positions in profit and are not selling. In contrast, short-term holders are selling during small price rallies, contributing to a “sell pressure” as they struggle to decide whether to cut their losses.
Recent market activity on August 1 saw a sharp sell-off on Binance, with the cumulative net taker volume dropping to -$1.5 billion, a level not seen since late July. This was a result of long positions being liquidated around the $114,000 mark. Simultaneously, funding rates on major exchanges turned negative, suggesting that more traders were opening short positions and anticipating a further price drop. This created a “cold zone” where the market became heavily tilted towards shorts, building up significant open interest on the downside.
Despite this short-term volatility, longer-term demand indicators remain strong. Data shows that the market has absorbed approximately 160,000 BTC in the last 30 days, with “accumulator addresses” (wallets that only buy and never sell) adding nearly 50,000 BTC. Additionally, off-chain data from CryptoQuant reveals that OTC desks have reduced their Bitcoin holdings by 74% over the past four years, indicating that large players are not offloading their inventory but rather are seeing it purchased and not replaced.
In short, while short-term retail traders are experiencing volatility and getting caught in a cycle of late long and late short positions, long-term demand and positioning remain stable. All eyes are now on the market to see if the whale’s large bet will be the catalyst that triggers a cascade of short liquidations above $121,000.
August 2025, Cryptoniteuae
