Which Coins Are Crypto Whales Buying During the Market Crash?

Jakarta, Pintu News – The crypto market saw a surge in activity from “whales” (large investors) after Donald Trump’s announcement of tariffs triggered a full-blown market crash, followed by a recovery.

These big investors moved fast, placing highly leveraged bets to capitalize on the volatility. Some made profits, while others lost millions of dollars. Many whales also took advantage of the situation to adjust their spot positions – either entering or exiting the market amid the turmoil.

This surge in activity reflects the high risk appetite and speed of reaction that characterize the current crypto market movements.

Whale Trading Behind Trump Tariffs’ Crypto Market Turmoil

According to BeInCrypto, Donald Trump’s announcement of 100% tariffs on China wiped billions of dollars off the crypto market on Friday (10/10). However, prices began to recover on Sunday after follow-up statements from the US President eased market fears regarding the policy.

Read also: 5 Altcoins that Analysts Are Talking About While Crypto Markets Crash

Amidst this recovery, derivatives trading surged sharply. Some whales (large investors) immediately adjusted their positions to capitalize on opportunities in the fast-changing market.

Based on on-chain data from Lookonchain, a World Liberty Financial advisor deposited 1 million USDC into the Hyperliquid (HYPE) platform. The trader then opened a 20x long position on 125.7 Bitcoin, worth approximately $14.3 million.

After the price started to recover, the same trader opened another position – this time long 3x on 850,000 Aster tokens (ASTER), worth approximately $1.25 million.

On the other hand, a big Bitcoin whale closed 90% of his short positions on BTC and completely exited his short positions on Ethereum (ETH), making a profit of around $190-$200 million in just one day. Shortly after, he re-opened a short position of 1,423 BTC, worth about $161 million.

Data from Hypurrscan shows that this position currently records an unrealized profit of over $3 million. Not all traders fared so well, however. Wallet owner 0xb9fe suffered a complete liquidation during the price drop, losing around $2 million.

Just a few hours later, the wallet returned with 9.5 million USDC deposited and opened a 25x long position on 18,960 ETH for approximately $72.7 million.

“ETH just climbed back above $4,000! Whale 0xb9fe’s bet paid off – not only did he recover his losses, he’s now $3.6 million in profit!” says Lookonchain.

Other Large Whale Movements

An on-chain analyst also highlighted two other major traders who made moves during the market recovery.

Address 0x728 opened long positions on ETH and Solana (SOL), with a floating profit of approximately $1.56 million (not yet closed at the time of the report). Previously, this wallet had lost $4.74 million due to a failed ETH long position.

Meanwhile, the trader with the address 0xe9d was more cautious, closing BTC long positions with a profit of around $265,000 overnight.

Elsewhere, wallet 0x5D2F, which previously held a loss-making BTC short position for almost five months, finally got a breath of fresh air during the market crash – reversing a $27 million loss into a momentary profit. However, as prices recovered, the position returned to losses, now down around $4.8 million.

Beyond Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum, wallets associated with Christopher Heymann – founding partner of 1kx Network – are also back in the market. The wallet deposited $2 million USDC into Hyperliquid and opened a 10x leveraged long position on Ethena (ENA). Previously, the same wallet had deposited $4.22 million but was liquidated during the market downturn.

How Whales Play as BTC and ETH Plummet

While derivatives trading took center stage during the market crash, activity in the spot market was also intense. On Sunday, an on-chain analyst revealed that a whale or institutional wallet, 0x395, transferred 15,010 ETH – worth approximately $57.31 million – to the exchange.

Read also: Hyperliquid Officially Activates HIP-3 Update, Now Everyone Can Launch DEX!

If the entire fund is sold, the wallet owner is expected to pocket a profit of around $11.87 million.

Additionally, Lookonchain noted that during the market turmoil, a group of hackers reportedly panic sold 8,638 ETH worth $32.5 million at $3,764, and incurred losses of approximately $5.5 million.

After the market recovered, they bought back 7,816 ETH – still worth around $32.5 million – but at a higher price of $4,159. This was an expensive example of “sell low, buy high.”

The market crash also revived the activity of an old Bitcoin whale. This whale, dubbed ‘Bitcoin OG’, deposited 300 BTC worth $33.47 million on Binance.

Historical data shows that 13 years ago, he withdrew 749 BTC from Mt. Gox for just $8,151. Last year, he moved 159 BTC to a new wallet, but had never sold Bitcoin before – making this his first sale since the beginning of his holdings.

While some whales are taking advantage of the situation to take profits, others are buying on the downside, including large corporate holders of Bitcoin.

Overall, the volatility over the weekend saw a sharp divergence in strategy among the big players – some locked in profits, while others rushed to re-accumulate.

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*Disclaimer

This content aims to enrich readers’ information. Pintu collects this information from various relevant sources and is not influenced by outside parties. Note that an asset’s past performance does not determine its projected future performance. Crypto trading activities have high risk and volatility, always do your own research and use cold cash before investing. All activities of buying and selling bitcoin and other crypto asset investments are the responsibility of the reader.

Reference:

• BeInCrypto. Whale Surge Crypto Crashes Trump Tariffs. Accessed on October 14, 2025