‘Insider’ OG Whale Back in Action: 3,003 BTC Transferred Amid Aggressive Shorting

Whale 19D5 transfers over 3,000 BTC to Binance while holding $140 million in Hyperliquid shorts.

A popular crypto whale “19D5” has significantly increased on-chain activity over the past two days. Known for previously selling a massive portion of her Bitcoin (BTC) holdings to accumulate Ethereum (ETH) earlier this year, the entity has also maintained aggressive short positions on Hyperliquid.

This event has, once again, prompted speculation about potential access to privileged market information due to the timing of these trades.

Moves Spark Speculation

In a span of 48 hours, the whale transferred over 3,003 BTC, which is worth approximately $335 million, to Binance, an exchange frequently used for large-scale transactions. In addition, 651 BTC were moved to Hyperliquid, where 19D5 continues to hold a short position estimated at $140 million.

The day concluded with a further transfer of 100 BTC to Kraken. Once holding more than 100,000 BTC, the whale now retains roughly 39,000 BTC, which is valued at around $4.25 billion. CryptoQuant noted that the trader’s on-chain movements are both distinctive and substantial, and often influence the short-term market.

“Her on-chain movements are quite unique and often significant enough to influence short-term market dynamics; it is therefore an entity to keep a close eye on.”

Another instance indicates near-term bearish sentiment for BTC, which means potential downward movement or profit-taking at current levels. According to Lookonchain, a smart trader identified as wallet 0xdDc7, who boasts an 80% win rate and $8.7 million in total profits, has just opened a major short position on Hyperliquid.

Within the past hour, the trader deposited 3 million USDC to the platform and initiated a 40x leveraged short worth approximately $31.8 million, targeting 291 BTC. The trader has a proven track record of successful, high-risk trades on Hyperliquid and has completed 20 trades so far with consistently strong results.

A different smart trader, 0xc2a3, who has maintained a 100% win rate, already closed their BTC short position and ended up securing $826,000 profit. Over the past 11 days, this trader has earned more than $12 million in total profits.

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VanEck’s Optimistic Bitcoin Cycle Outlook

As short-term sentiment turns bearish, on the macro-level, VanEck’s research team has framed the recent pullback as a natural part of Bitcoin’s broader growth cycle. According to VanEck analysts Nathan Frankovitz and Matthew Sigel, the crypto asset’s October decline represents a “liquidity-driven mid-cycle reset” rather than the start of a bear market. The report found that leverage has normalized, on-chain activity is rising, and Bitcoin remains 14% below its all-time high.

They also highlighted that global M2 growth explains over half of BTC’s price variance, as M2 supply increased by 6.8% since the start of 2025. Additionally, 73% of Bitcoin’s price variance since October 2020 is tied to changes in futures open interest, while blockchain revenues strongly correlate with token prices.