This week, the crypto market saw more selling pressure as Bitcoin (BTC) fell below $115,000, causing a tug-of-war between bullish and bearish traders on Hyperliquid.
Lookonchain’s new whale data shows that top traders are changing their positions in what looks like one of the most intense battles between bulls and bears this month.
Whales Shuffle Positions as Market Turns Choppy
According to the on-chain tracker, a group of well-known investors on Hyperliquid have been actively reshuffling their positions during the downturn. On one side, some traders who have done well in the past are keeping big, positive positions, while others are getting ready for the market to drop even more.
Lookonchain revealed that 0xc2a3, known for having a perfect win rate, closed 2,186 BTC longs worth about $256 million. Even though the anonymous speculator had a lot of exposure, they only made $1.4 million in profit. Additionally, after weeks of making aggressive long trades, they also cut back on their positions in Ethereum (ETH) and Solana (SOL).
Meanwhile, Machi Big Brother, who was up $44.8 million in realized gains, is now down $12.5 million after doubling down on new ETH and HYPE longs. Another whale, 0xf625, who made $8.3 million during the market crash on October 11, has started shorting ETH again, adding new 10x positions in two wallets in the last 24 hours.
Market participant 0xddc7, who has an 80% win rate, is said to be losing more than $3.3 million on paper on his short position. However, influencer and public trader James Wynn may be the most cautionary tale. Lookonchain says that almost every recent position he has had has ended in liquidation, including a 40x short on Bitcoin. The analytics platform teased followers on X to “always take the opposite side of James’s trades,” reflecting how increasingly skeptical the community is becoming of his strategies.
This flurry of repositioning comes after Bitcoin did well, rising past $115,000 following news of a possible trade breakthrough between the U.S. and China lifted risk sentiment. That jump wiped out more than $370 million in short positions and brought the total market cap of all cryptocurrencies back above $4 trillion.
Analysts See a Market Reset Rather Than a Breakdown
Despite the latest retreat, several analysts remain optimistic about the market’s medium-term outlook. Crypto analyst Michaël van de Poppe previously suggested that the altcoin sector has been in a downtrend for nearly four years, which he described as its longest-ever difficult period. But he and other experts say that technical indicators show this phase may be coming to an end, meaning a big price recovery may be on the way.
Lookonchain’s whale data backs up this mixed narrative, with some big holders locking in profits or taking defensive short positions, and others, like 0xc2a3, building long orders near key support levels, which suggests that they may be banking on the pullback not lasting for too long.