Early Bitcoin Whale Shorted $1.1B Right Before Tariffs, Now Up $27M – How Did He Know?

A Satoshi-era Bitcoin whale opened over $1.1 billion in short positions against BTC and ETH just before President Donald Trump announced 100% tariffs on Chinese imports, generating an estimated $27 million in unrealized profits as markets crashed.

The trader, identified by blockchain tracking firm Lookonchain as a “Bitcoin OG” who held 86,000 BTC from 2011, deposited funds into Hyperliquid starting October 9 to establish highly leveraged bets against the crypto market’s top two assets.

Whale Doubles Down 30 Minutes Before Trump Speech

The whale’s positions include a 10x leveraged short on 6,189 BTC valued at $752.9 million with a liquidation price of $130,810, and a 12x leveraged short on 81,203 ETH worth $353.1 million with a liquidation price of $4,589.

The timing sparked widespread speculation about insider knowledge, with the trader doubling down on shorts just 30 minutes before Trump’s tariff announcement that sent Bitcoin plunging from above $122,000 to briefly below $102,000.

According to on-chain analyst @mlmabc, the whale closed approximately 90% of Bitcoin shorts and completely exited Ethereum positions at the bottom of the drop, pocketing between $190 million and $200 million in realized profits within a single day.

Lookonchain data shows the trader began accumulating the short positions on October 9 by depositing 80 million USDC into Hyperliquid, followed by additional deposits totaling tens of millions throughout the week leading up to the crash.

The market collapse triggered over 1.66 million liquidations in 24 hours, wiping out $19.33 billion in positions according to CoinGlass data.

Although Mlmabc argued that the “liquidation figure floating around is fake, the real number is likely much higher, somewhere in the $30B-$40B+ range.”

Long positions accounted for $16.83 billion of losses, while shorts contributed over $2.49 billion.

Bitcoin and Ethereum led liquidations at $5.38 billion and $4.43 billion, respectively, followed by Solana at $2.01 billion and XRP at $708 million.

Hyperliquid saw the largest single liquidation, an ETH-USDT position worth $203.36 million. According to Mlmbac, Hyperliquid alone saw “nearly $7B liquidated.”

Satoshi-Era Holder’s Trading History Fuels Conspiracy Theories

The whale’s identity traces back to 2011 when he accumulated 86,000 BTC during Bitcoin’s earliest years.

On-chain records show he sold 35,991 BTC worth $4.43 billion starting August 20 to purchase 886,371 ETH valued at $4.07 billion at a 0.0406 exchange rate on Hyperliquid.

The trader still holds 49,634 BTC worth approximately $5.43 billion across four wallets, maintaining substantial exposure despite the aggressive shorting strategy.

On October 8, just one day before establishing the massive short positions, the whale sold 3,000 BTC for 363.87 million USDC at an average price of $121,291, positioning himself with significant stablecoin liquidity.

He then deployed 80 million USDC to open a 6x short on 3,477 BTC worth $419 million with a liquidation price of $140,660, while depositing an additional 50 million USDC into Binance for potential similar trades.

The whale continued scaling positions throughout October 10, depositing 30 million USDC to open a 12x short on 76,242 ETH valued at $330 million with a liquidation price of $4,613.

Community speculation intensified after crypto researcher Maartunn noted the correlation between the whale’s Satoshi-era origins and potential government connections, suggesting insider ties may have provided advance knowledge of Trump’s tariff announcement.

Social media erupted with accusations of market manipulation, with multiple analysts calling the sequence “one of the biggest insider trades in history.”

Critics pointed to the precise timing of position increases just before Trump’s speech, the whale’s exits at exact market bottoms, and the coordinated nature of linked wallets copying similar trades within hours.

Trump Tariffs Trigger Historic Deleveraging Event

President Trump announced the 100% tariff on Chinese imports scheduled for November 1 in response to Beijing’s new export restrictions on products containing over 0.1% rare earth elements.

The tariff also includes new export controls targeting critical software industries.

Trump later hinted he could reverse the tariffs if China changes course before the deadline, potentially triggering a short-term crypto market recovery.

The global crypto market cap fell over 9% in 24 hours to $3.8 trillion as the sell-off accelerated.

Bitcoin dropped from above $122,000 to around $113,600, wiping out all gains since August before briefly dipping below $102,000.

Ethereum and other major altcoins followed similar trajectories, with some assets declining 60% to 90% during the three-hour crash that erased approximately $1 trillion in market value.

Analysts characterized the event as one of the year’s most severe liquidation episodes.

Despite the whale’s profitable exits, the crash left 1.66 million traders liquidated and billions in losses locked in.

Trump’s approval rating fell to 40% amid the ongoing government shutdown, with 86% of Polymarket traders expecting the shutdown to continue past October 15.

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