Ethereum and DeFi moves show strategic portfolio adjustments, while institutional selling pressures force cascading BTC liquidations.
Bitcoin (BTC) faced a sharp drop, falling below $70,000 for the first time in months. At the time of writing, Bitcoin trades at $67,959.21, with a 24-hour volume of $89.3 billion, as per CoinMarketCap.
The sudden shift comes as long-term holders, known as “OGs,” began moving substantial amounts of Bitcoin, sparking concern across the market. These investors, some from the Satoshi era of 2010 and 2011, have held their coins for over five years.
According to blockchain analytics platform Onchain Lens, a long-time Bitcoin holder moved 5,000 BTC — worth about $351 million — to Binance. Arkham data cited by on-chain lens shows this wallet holds $3.53 billion in total, which has risen 4.23% recently.
As per the data, the Bitcoin OG executed multiple large transfers in a short window. The first transfer involved 3,401 BTC, valued at $238.7 million, followed by two transactions of 800 BTC and 799 BTC each, totaling around $112 million. A tiny test transfer of 0.001 BTC was also included, possibly to confirm the receiving wallet.
Besides Bitcoin, Ethereum, and DeFi activity show active position management. About 8.33 million USDC moved from a Binance wallet into Aave, likely for lending or liquidity purposes.
Meanwhile, 10,000 ETH (around $20.4 million) cycled through Aave’s wrapped token contracts, wrapped and unwrapped to adjust collateral. Smaller ETH transfers and token minting suggest strategic adjustments rather than liquidation.
The crypto market faced a big wave of forced liquidations in the past 24 hours. Data from CoinGlass shows that about $657 million was wiped out, impacting 143,684 traders. Bitcoin took the largest hit, with $394.6 million lost, showing how heavily leveraged positions rely on its price.
Ethereum followed with $130.1 million in liquidations, while XRP and Solana saw $27.7 million and $26.1 million wiped out. Other smaller altcoins together lost just over $20 million.
Liquidations intensified throughout the day. The last hour alone at the time of writing saw $7.6 million erased, mostly from long positions. 4-hour and 12-hour windows tallied $120.39 million and $220.2 million, respectively.
Long positions totaled $229.95 million, while shorts hit $427.06 million, indicating sharp swings caught shorts off guard. The largest single liquidation order happened on Hyperliquid – BTC-USD value $21.30M.
CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju warned: “Unless this is forced selling, it is hard to see institutions unloading this much supply all at once. The scary part of forced selling in Bitcoin is that it tends to cascade. As funds get liquidated and prices fall, miners go bankrupt, and even retail investors are forced to cut losses.”
Analyst Mr Crypto Whale added: “Binance, Coinbase, and Wintermute have started offloading crypto aggressively. They’re constantly selling $BTC, forcing longs into liquidation. This looks less like market action — more like strategic pressure.”
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Disclaimer: The information researched and reported by The Crypto Times is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional financial advice. Investing in crypto assets involves significant risk due to market volatility. Always Do Your Own Research (DYOR) and consult with a qualified Financial Advisor before making any investment decisions.
