Крупные держатели снова в игре: стратегии китов в условиях рыночной коррекции Translation: Major Holders Back in the Game: Whale Strategies Amid Market Correction

On October 16, the price of Bitcoin fell below $110,000. The 12% decline from the recent all-time high has been attributed by analysts to selling by large holders, tensions in trade relations between the U.S. and China, and an increase in demand for put options, as reported by The Block.

At its lowest, the first cryptocurrency’s price dropped to around $109,800. As of this writing, it has rebounded to $111,220. This correction has followed the largest liquidation in cryptocurrency history, with over $19 billion in positions wiped out last weekend, as detailed in Forklog.

Matt Hougan, the CIO of Bitwise, referred to this incident as a structural «reset» rather than a market collapse.

Timothy Misir, head of research at BRN, believes that large holders are reducing their positions without signs of panic. According to him, whales with balances ranging from 10 to 10,000 BTC sold approximately 17,500 BTC. However, since the start of the year, they have remained net buyers, accumulating over 318,000 BTC. Misir described this as more of an asset rotation than a mass exit.

Data from the options market indicates that traders are hedging against another correction. The volume of put options has exceeded $1.15 billion, making up 28% of all trading activity. The majority of open interest in call options is concentrated in the $115,000–$130,000 range.

As Bitcoin declined, other major cryptocurrencies also saw price drops. The overall market capitalization of cryptocurrencies shrank to $3.8 trillion. The Fear and Greed Index is at 28, indicating increased caution among investors.

In the past 24 hours, long positions worth over $528 million have been liquidated in the market.

Some analysts see the current situation as a sign of market resilience. Strategist Matt Mena from 21Shares noted that Bitcoin is holding strong. He believes that structural demand, bolstered by a $6 billion inflow into ETFs over the past month, continues to create a price floor.

Mena pointed out that after the reduction of leverage, the outlook for the end of the year looks constructive, paving the way for a potential rise to $150,000, provided institutional demand remains strong.

However, in the short term, the technical picture appears fragile. Mena warns that a decisive break below the $110,000 level could send the price into the $104,000–$108,000 range. For a recovery in bullish momentum, Bitcoin needs to establish itself above $115,000.

According to analytics platform Lookonchain, one of the whales has changed its trading strategy, shifting from short to long positions, which implies a market growth expectation.

This trader opened a long position of 68.4 BTC worth $7.6 million, employing five times leverage.

Previously, the same market participant gained over $5.5 million in just four days amid the price drop.

The whale also placed limit orders to open long positions in Ethereum.

Lastly, CryptoQuant analyst Axel Adler stated that Bitcoin has passed the maturity test.