A high-stakes whale purchase totaling $250 million in BTC and ETH surprised investors as BTC dropped to $115,000.
A crypto whale has spent over $250 million buying up leading cryptocurrencies Bitcoin BTC $113 720 24h volatility: 0.8% Market cap: $2.26 T Vol. 24h: $51.30 B and Ethereum ETH $3 498 24h volatility: 3.4% Market cap: $422.22 B Vol. 24h: $31.25 B , just as a sudden downturn liquidated hundreds of thousands of traders and wiped $628 million from the market.
Massive Whale Move Amid Market Panic
According to on-chain data from Lookonchain, wallet “0xd8d0” transferred $178.36 million in USDC to market makers Wintermute and Coinbase, receiving in return 893 BTC (worth $103.5 million) and 20,000 ETH ($74.06 million).
The total accumulation exceeds $250 million across BTC and ETH combined.
Whale 0xd8d0 spent 178.36M $USDC to buy 893 $BTC($103.5M) and 20,000 $ETH($74.06M) in the past 5 hours.
He transferred 178.36M $USDC to #Wintermute and #Coinbase, then received 893 $BTC($103.5M) and 20,000 $ETH($74.06M) from #Wintermute and #Coinbase.https://t.co/7eUZQPGfRO… pic.twitter.com/0tUOy4RVKZ
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) August 1, 2025
Interestingly, the purchase came shortly after US President Donald Trump issued an executive order imposing steep tariffs on countries that failed to reach trade agreements with the US, including South Africa, Switzerland, Taiwan, and Thailand, with rates ranging from 19% to 39%.
Even allies like Canada, now facing 35% tariffs, weren’t spared.
Bitcoin Drops Below Key Support
At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $115,000, down 2.5% over the past 24 hours and roughly 6.5% below its all-time high of $122,800 reached on July 14. The asset has broken below its three-week range, and analysts are now eyeing $111,000 as the next critical support.
ETH has dropped worse, shedding nearly 5% and currently changing hands at $3,669. The sharp correction in both assets triggered widespread liquidations.
According to CoinGlass, 158,000 traders were wiped out in the past 24 hours. Also, $186.55 million was liquidated from the Ethereum derivatives market post the crash.
Retail Sells, Whales Accumulate
As highlighted by analyst Amr Taha, short-term holders (STHs) have dramatically increased BTC deposits to Binance, rising from 10,000 to over 36,000 BTC in July, a clear sign of profit-taking.
ETH Whale Withdrawals | Source: Amr Taha
On the other hand, whales appear to be aggressively accumulating ETH. On July 31, over $900 million worth of ETH was withdrawn from centralized exchanges by whale wallets.
As the Federal Reserve holds interest rates steady, whales and big funds are doubling down as retail takes profit.
Bull Rally Not Over Yet?
As reported earlier, Bitcoin is in the late stage of its current bull market cycle, but not yet at the top. In fact, new investor dominance, a historical marker of bull cycle peaks, currently stands at just 30%, well below the 65%+ levels seen during tops in March and December 2024.
Meanwhile, technical analyst Ali Martinez points to Bitcoin’s Short-Term Holder Cost Basis, stating that as long as BTC holds above $105,450, a rally toward $125,230 or even $141,770 is still on the table.
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