The crypto market was shaken by Donald Trump’s surprise announcement of 100% tariffs on Chinese imports, triggering a sharp sell-off across digital assets.
Yet, while retail traders scrambled to exit positions, blockchain data told a very different story – whales were moving fast and in massive volumes.
In one striking transaction, an anonymous whale deployed nearly 5 million USDT to scoop up over 600 billion PEPE tokens, a move that immediately caught the attention of on-chain analysts. The same address reportedly still holds around 1 million USDC, signaling that further accumulation could be on the horizon once volatility stabilizes.
Meanwhile, Ethereum whales were quietly increasing their exposure. A freshly created wallet known as “0x8df” withdrew 24,409 ETH – valued at roughly $93 million – from Kraken before receiving an additional 8,914 ETH ($34 million) from FalconX. The result: a total stash of more than 28,900 ETH worth approximately $111 million, suggesting growing confidence among deep-pocketed investors.
But not all large players managed to escape unscathed. HyperLiquid, one of the major trading platforms, reported some of the day’s largest liquidation losses, with top whale accounts taking heavy hits. The user behind “0xB8B” saw $26.4 million erased from a leveraged ETH long, while another wallet “0x9AF” lost $21.4 million on Solana. Other massive losses included $17.2 million on Avalanche, $16.3 million on XPL, and $15.3 million on another ETH position.
Chainlink also entered the spotlight after a long-dormant address suddenly transferred 18.75 million LINK – worth nearly $387 million – to Binance. The move ended a four-month silence and raised speculation about whether early investors or institutions might be preparing to sell into market weakness.
Adding to the intrigue, another whale wallet that had been inactive for seven months re-emerged, withdrawing 2,870 ETH ($11.8 million) from Binance and bringing its total holdings to more than $19 million. Analysts say such synchronized whale activity, both buying and selling, reflects growing uncertainty – but also potential accumulation as the market searches for its next bottom.
