Bitcoin whale switches long $BTC positions to long $ETH, rakes in millions with insider trading suspicions

The crypto whale, whose transactions were spotted by market tracker Lookonchain, has been longing Bitcoin and Ethereum since the start of March and is now sitting on over $2 million in unrealized profits after their latest transactions.

On Wednesday, Lookonchain reported that the anonymous trader had converted their BTC holdings to take a bold ETH long position. The trader’s ETH position ballooned to 140,458 ETH, valued at approximately $269.8 million. The entry price was recorded at $1,900.2, with a liquidation price of $1,877. At the time of reporting, the unrealized profit stood at $2.92 million.

Crazy!

This whale has switched all of his long $BTC positions to long $ETH.

The current $ETH long position has reached 140,458 $ETH($269.8M)!

Entry price: $1,900.2
Liquidation price: $1,877
Unrealized profit: $2.92Mhttps://t.co/9Dcmxp86RF pic.twitter.com/k3W04tpXQ9

— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) March 12, 2025

Prior to making the swap, the whale had deposited an additional 1.735 million USDC into the Hyperliquid trading platform to further bet on BTC. Yet, shortly after, Lookonchain flagged that the trader had placed a risky long bet on ETH instead, allegedly backed by “insider trading info.”

Last Monday, the same trader had amped up their ETH long position to 73,076 ETH ($138.75 million), securing over $1 million in profit within 10 minutes, when the liquidation price was $1,854.4.

Bitcoin and Ether long positions on Trumpian crypto markets 

This week wasn’t the first time the whale has made a quick buck by taking advantage of crypto developments from the White House. On March 10, Lookonchain reported that the trader had earned $2.15 million in just 50 minutes by leveraging 50x on ETH. 

High risk, high reward!

The whale (likely armed with insider info) made another $2.15M in just 50 minutes!

About 50 minutes ago, the whale sold 947 $ETH for 1.95M $USDC and deposited it into #Hyperliquid to long $ETH with 50x leverage.

The position grew to 25,095 $ETH($53.7M),… pic.twitter.com/nuOfHCXCi1

— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) March 10, 2025

The trader had initially sold 947 ETH for 1.95 million USDC before depositing the funds into Hyperliquid to long ETH worth $53.7 million, with a liquidation price of $2,008.

Moreover, Lookonchain previously noted that this same individual had raked in $6.8 million by going long on BTC and ETH with 50x leverage ahead of former President Donald Trump’s executive order on creating a national strategic crypto reserve, made last Friday.

On March 2, the whale also deposited 6 million USDC into Hyperliquid within an eight-hour span, using it to open leveraged long positions on BTC and ETH. He made unrealized profits exceeding $1.6 million on the very same day. Their ETH long entry was set at $2,197, with a liquidation price of $2,149.4, while their BTC long entry was $85,908, with a liquidation price of $84,752.

Crypto market sees meager rebound after 48-hour-long heavy liquidations

Per Lookonchain, the crypto trader could be relying heavily on insider information, owing to the broader market’s tough week start that saw millions of dollars wiped away. 

Leveraged positions have faced countless losses as fears of a global recession, trade disputes, and macroeconomic concerns crept into digital currency and stock markets. 

Over the past day, total liquidations amounted to $407 million, a 9% drop compared to the amounts recorded on Monday’s close. Data from Coinglass indicates that $171 million came from long positions, while $237 million was from shorts. 

Bitcoin accounted for $192.72 million of the liquidations, with $138 million from short positions. Ethereum saw $89.67 million in liquidations, with a $11 million difference between longs and shorts.

Per Coingecko updates, BTC has reclaimed ground above $80,000, reaching $82,299, a 1.1% uptick over the past 24 hours, while ETH has dropped down 1.7% in the same period and is now changing hands at $1,888.

Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that provide leveraged exposure to crypto-related stocks also took a beating. Two ETFs focused on Strategy, a company that holds significant Bitcoin reserves, plunged more than 30% in a single day. 

“There are plenty of long-term growth drivers for crypto, especially with the pro-crypto administration,” said Roxanna Islam, head of sector and industry research at TMX VettaFi.

“But the issue is that crypto is still a high-risk asset where much of its pricing is built on sentiment rather than rationality. And it’s hard to have faith in crypto when there are so many concerns across the broader market,” she concluded.

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