Crypto Whales Open Large Leveraged Longs in Altcoins

Recent on-chain data reveals that crypto whales have been highly active, moving millions in USDC across major exchanges and opening significant leveraged positions in altcoins and blue-chip tokens. In the past hours, a whale deposited $5.45 million USDC into HyperLiquid, initiating 20x leveraged longs on ETH, 40x on BTC, and 10x on HYPE, LINK, AAVE, and MKR. The same whale sold 123,500 LINK for $3.13 million USDC at $25.36, then routed funds through TrustWallet to earn yields on Compound and Aave. Despite the sale, the investor still holds 425,000 LINK (~$10.8 M). Another whale injected $15.47 M USDC to open 20x BTC and 10x BNB longs, and placed buy orders for ETH, SOL, LINK, and FARTCOIN. A previously dormant whale returned with a $1.56 M USDC deposit to take a 1x leveraged long in WLFI. Meanwhile, the Coinbase hacker acquired 38,126 SOL (~$8 M). Finally, one long-term whale deposited 1,400 ETH (~$6.63 M) into Kraken, realizing a $102 M profit on holdings originally bought for $258 K nine years ago; he still retains 13,477 ETH (~$64.5 M). This surge in crypto whales’ on-chain activity underscores heightened market volatility, profit-taking, and bullish leveraged trading trends. Traders should watch these whale moves to gauge short-term price swings and potential support levels.
Bullish
The recent surge in crypto whale activity, marked by large leveraged long positions and substantial on-chain transfers, typically signals bullish sentiment in the market. Historically, whales opening high-leverage longs—especially on major assets like BTC and ETH—have preceded price rallies. For example, pre-January 2021, a spike in whale deposits and leveraged longs on Bitcoin coincided with its data-driven ascent to new highs. While some profit-taking on LINK indicates opportunistic selling, the overall net buying and aggressive leverage on blue-chip tokens and altcoins suggest confidence in further upward momentum. In the short term, these whale movements can drive volatility, creating buying opportunities at key support levels when profit-taking occurs. Longer-term, sustained whale accumulation and leveraged positions often underpin broader bull cycles. Traders should monitor whale flows and leverage ratios as leading indicators for potential breakouts and trend durability.