The $11 billion Bitcoin whale who accurately anticipated the $19 billion market downturn in October is now positioning for upside in major cryptocurrencies, signaling confidence in a potential market rebound.
After selling $330 million worth of Ether, the whale opened three leveraged long positions totaling approximately $748 million, betting on price gains in Bitcoin, Ether, and Solana.
The largest position is a $598 million leveraged ETH long opened at $3,147, which would face liquidation if Ether’s price drops below $2,143, according to blockchain analytics firm Lookonchain in a post on X on Tuesday.
Recent onchain activity suggests the whale is positioning for a short-term rally across the three assets, maintaining significant leverage despite carrying roughly $49 million in unrealized losses.
The $11 billion Bitcoin whale first surfaced in August, rotating roughly $5 billion worth of BTC into Ether and briefly overtaking Sharplink — the second-largest corporate treasury holder — in total ETH holdings, Cointelegraph reported on Sept. 1.
The shift into Ether began on Aug. 21, when the whale sold $2.59 billion in Bitcoin to fund a $2.2 billion spot ETH purchase alongside a $577 million Ether perpetual long position. The move appeared to spark broader whale activity, with nine “massive” addresses acquiring a combined $456 million worth of ETH within a single day.
Whales accumulate ETH as smart money stays short
Other large investors have also been ramping up spot Ether purchases, signaling growing confidence among whales — a group often seen as critical to driving price momentum.
According to data from crypto intelligence platform Nansen, whales increased their Ether acquisition rate by 1.6 times over the past week, accumulating $7.43 million in spot ETH across 19 wallets.
However, despite the uptick in whale buying, some so-called smart money traders remain positioned defensively, holding roughly $122 million in net short exposure.
Despite increased whale accumulation, the industry’s most consistently profitable traders — tracked by Nansen as “smart money” — are still positioned for further downside in Ether.
According to Nansen data, smart money traders remain net short Ether by a combined $121 million, although they added $6.5 million in new long positions over the past 24 hours.
Smart money traders were also positioned net short on Bitcoin, with cumulative exposure of $192 million, and on Solana, with net shorts totaling $74 million.
