Whales Sell 17,500 BTC Amid Market Crash

On October 16, the price of Bitcoin fell below $110,000. Analysts attributed the 12% drop from its recent all-time high to selling by large holders, tensions in US-China trade relations, and increased demand for put options, The Block reports.

Binance BTC/USDT daily chart. Source: TradingView.

At one point, the leading cryptocurrency's price fell to ~$109,800. At the time of writing, the price had recovered to $111,220. The correction followed the largest liquidation of positions in the history of the crypto market, amounting to over $19 billion, over the past weekend.

Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan called the event a structural “reset” rather than a market collapse.

BRN's Head of Research, Timothy Misir, believes that large holders are reducing their positions without any signs of panic. According to his data, whales with balances between 10 and 10,000 BTC have sold approximately 17,500 BTC. However, since the beginning of the year, they remain net buyers, accumulating over 318,000 BTC. This appears more like an asset rotation than a mass exit, Misir stated.

Options market data shows that traders are hedging their bets against another correction. Put option volume exceeded $1.15 billion, accounting for 28% of total trade flow. The lion's share of open interest in call options is concentrated in the $115,000-$130,000 range.

Amid Bitcoin's decline, other major cryptocurrencies also fell. The total crypto market capitalization has fallen to $3.8 trillion. The Fear and Greed Index is at 28, indicating growing investor caution.

Source: Alternative.

Over the past 24 hours, long positions worth more than $528 million have been liquidated on the market.

Source: CoinGlass.

Some analysts see this as a sign of market resilience. 21Shares strategist Matt Mena noted that Bitcoin remains strong. He believes that structural demand, supported by $6 billion in ETF inflows over the past month, continues to create a price bottom.

In his opinion, after the reduction of leverage, the situation by the end of the year looks constructive, opening the way to $150,000 while maintaining institutional demand.

However, in the short term, the technical picture looks fragile. Mena warns that a confident breakout of $110,000 could send the price into the $104,000–$108,000 range. For Bitcoin to resume its bullish momentum, it needs to consolidate above $115,000.

Keith changed from short to long

According to the analytics platform Lookonchain, one of the whales has changed its trading strategy. It has switched from short to long positions, indicating an expected market rally.

Whale 0xc2a3, who made over $5.5M in profits in just 4 days, has flipped from short to long!

He just opened a 5x long on 68.4 $BTC($7.6M) and placed limit orders to go long on $ETH as well.https://t.co/ort0PmauDQhttps://t.co/Cc68TH8iyB pic.twitter.com/5bvKirI8Ty

— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) October 16, 2025

The trader opened a long position of 68.4 BTC worth $7.6 million. The trade was executed with five times leverage.

Previously, the same market participant received over $5.5 million in profit in just four days amid falling prices.

Keith also placed limit orders to open long positions on Ethereum.

As a reminder, CryptoQuant analyst Axel Adler Jr. stated that Bitcoin has passed its maturity test.