Bitcoin News Today: A $17B Bitcoin Whale Unloads 24,000 BTC, Triggering Panic and a $100B Flash Crash

Bitcoin experienced a sharp price correction over the weekend as a single whale sold 24,000 BTC, valued at approximately $2.7 billion, triggering a flash crash and widespread market liquidations. The sudden selloff dragged BTC down below $113,000, with the cryptocurrency hitting a low of around $110,500 before stabilizing near $112,800. This move erased gains from the previous day’s rally following U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s dovish speech, which had briefly pushed BTC above $117,000.

The whale, identified as holding over 152,874 BTC valued at more than $17 billion, liquidated the full 24,000 BTC balance and transferred it to the Hyperunite trading platform. According to on-chain analyst Sani, the coins had remained dormant for over five years before being sold off in a concentrated timeframe, with 12,000 BTC sent to Hyperunite alone on Sunday. The whale is “still actively selling,” suggesting the pressure on BTC could persist in the short term. WhaleWire CEO Jacob King noted that the selloff triggered a panic cascade, with other traders following suit, amplifying the market downturn.

Analysts have linked the recent stagnation in BTC’s price movement to the concentration of supply among large whales, many of whom acquired their holdings in 2011 when prices were under $10. Willy Woo, a prominent Bitcoiner, explained that it now takes over $110,000 in new capital to absorb each BTC sold by whales. This dynamic has created a bottleneck in price appreciation as new capital must absorb large volumes of BTC being offloaded. Additionally, some whales have been shifting their exposure from Bitcoin to Ethereum, with reports indicating that nearly $2 billion in BTC was converted into ETH, of which $1.3 billion has been staked.

Ethereum has shown resilience in the wake of the Bitcoin flash crash, trading at $4,707 as of press time. The shift in capital from BTC to ETH appears to be driven by institutional interest in Ethereum’s growing role in smart contracts and stablecoin infrastructure. Analysts like Jeff Mei of BTSE have suggested that Ethereum’s smaller market cap and impending staking ETF approvals could position it to outperform Bitcoin in the context of a potential Fed rate cut. Meanwhile, the BTC dominance metric has fallen to 57.94%, down from 61% at the start of the month, reinforcing the trend of capital reallocation to altcoins.

Despite the sell-off, some analysts remain cautiously optimistic about Bitcoin’s near-term trajectory. Alex Krüger of Aike Capital noted that BTC could see an upward move once short-term momentum clears and the price moves above $113,500–$114,000. Vijay Boyapati described the whale selling as part of a broader monetization cycle, emphasizing that the finite supply of whale-held BTC makes their selling a necessary step for full market realization. However, the market remains on edge as traders await key macroeconomic data, including initial jobless claims, which could influence further volatility in the coming weeks.

Source:

[1] Bitcoin Whale Sells 24,000 BTC Triggering Flash Crash, Still Holds Over $17B Worth BTC (https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bitcoin-whale-sells-24-000-061435431.html)

[2] Bitcoin Flash Crash Triggers $550M in Sunday Liquidations as Ether Rotation Builds (https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2025/08/25/bitcoin-flash-crash-triggers-usd550m-in-sunday-liquidations-as-ether-rotation-builds)

[3] Bitcoin Under $112,700 Amid Continued Whale Migration to Ether (https://www.theblock.co/post/368060/bitcoin-under-112700-whale-migration)

[4] Bitcoin Price 'Flash Crash' Panic Suddenly Wipes $100 Billion from Crypto Market (https://www.forbes.com/sites/digital-assets/2025/08/25/bitcoin-price-flash-crash-panic-suddenly-wipes-100-billion-from-crypto-market/)

[5] $300M in Longs Liquidated in 1 Hour: Bitcoin Crashes (https://cryptopotato.com/300m-in-longs-liquidated-in-1-hour-bitcoin-crashes-ethereum-rejected-at-5k/)