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August 26, 2025cryptonews logocryptonews

Dormant Whale Sell-Off and ETF Outflows Weigh on Bitcoin, Analyst Warns

Bitcoin slide below $110,000 has exposed fragility in the market’s structure, with thin liquidity, leveraged positioning, and heavy ETF outflows amplifying the sell-off, according to Leo Zhao, Investment Director at MEXC ￰0￱ Takeaways: Bitcoin’s plunge below $110K was fueled by thin liquidity, liquidations, and whale ￰1￱ saw over $1B in outflows while investor rotation into Ethereum intensified, adding pressure on ￰2￱ warns Bitcoin sits at a “critical inflexion point” near $100K–$120K. After briefly rising above $117,000 following Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s dovish Jackson Hole comments, momentum failed to ￰3￱ said the drop reflected “a combination of thinning liquidity, ETF repositioning, and heavy profit-taking from OG BTC holders.” $900M in Leveraged Crypto Positions Wiped Out Amid Bitcoin Sell-Off More than $900 million in leveraged positions were liquidated, showing how stretched exposure had become before selling pressure ￰4￱ of the main triggers was the movement of 24,000 dormant Bitcoin onto exchanges, which Zhao said “cascaded through an already fragile order book” and helped spark a flash weekend crash.

A dormant whale woke up after 5 years and sold 24,000 BTC for ￰5￱ single move crashed Bitcoin to $112K and erased $45B in market ￰6￱ entity still holds 152,874 $BTC from wallets with funds dating back 6 ￰7￱ — Coin Bureau (@coinbureau) August 25, 2025 A recovery attempt early this week stalled at $113,000, signaling bears are seeking to cement ￰8￱ exchange-traded funds, which had recently offered price support, recorded over $1 billion in outflows last week — their steepest since ￰9￱ reversal of what had been steady inflows removed a key stabilizing ￰10￱ the same time, investor rotation into Ethereum has accelerated. ETH-linked products drew multi-billion-dollar inflows in August as the token outperformed Bitcoin, leaving BTC “temporarily lagging in the capital rotation cycle,” Zhao noted.

On-chain data also showed realized profits collapsing toward breakeven, reinforcing fading market conviction. #ETHEREUM is MUCH more than #BITCOIN ! ETH: Deflationary, yield-generating, low-energy, global validator network. BTC: Fixed supply, no yield, energy-intensive mining. One's digital oil powering a new economy, the other's digital ￰11￱ — Leon Waidmann (@LeonWaidmann) July 5, 2025 Short-term rebounds have so far been unsustainable, with traders focusing on downside protection and hedging ￰12￱ weak retail sentiment, Zhao said institutional and sovereign buyers remain ￰13￱ players have been scaling into positions during the pullback, extending exposure while retail demand ￰14￱ now sits at what Zhao described as a “critical inflexion point,” with two possible near-term paths: consolidation in the $110,000–$120,000 range or a break lower to test psychological support at $105,000–$100,000.

“The absence of a fresh macro catalyst… is likely to drive BTC into a period of market consolidation as the market digests the recent distribution,” he said. Long-Term Outlook Still Intact While the near-term picture appears unsettled, Zhao stressed that Bitcoin’s long-term foundation remains ￰15￱ accumulation continues to outpace new issuance, creating a structural supply ￰16￱ concluded that once macro headwinds ease, Bitcoin retains the basis “for another attempt at record highs of $130,000 before the EOY.” Bitcoin could be on track for a major rally this year, according to Leah Wald, CEO of SOL ￰17￱ week, Wald said she sees the world’s largest cryptocurrency potentially climbing to around $175,000 by year-end , a target she described as conservative compared to projections from other top investors and fund ￰18￱ term, Wald pointed to ambitious estimates suggesting Bitcoin could reach $1 million by 2030, underlining the growing conviction among institutional players.

However, Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz has pushed back on predictions that Bitcoin could hit $1 million in the near term, warning that such a move would likely reflect a collapse in the US economy rather than a crypto success story.

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