Bitcoin News Today: Whale Dump Shatters Bullish Hopes, Bitcoin Plummets $5K in 10 Minutes

Bitcoin briefly dropped below $111,000 on Tuesday amid a sharp sell-off driven by a large whale transaction, reversing gains from the previous day when Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell delivered a dovish speech at Jackson Hole. According to blockchain analytics firm Timechainindex.com, a single whale offloaded 24,000 BTC—worth over $300 million—into the market, contributing to a rapid price decline of more than 2% within ten minutes. The entity, which reportedly moved 12,000 BTC in a single day, has a total holding of 152,874 BTC across associated addresses, with some funds traced back to HTX six years ago [1].

The flash crash occurred during a period of relatively illiquid market conditions, where such large-volume trades could have a pronounced effect on price movements. The cryptocurrency eventually recovered slightly, trading near $112,800 by late Tuesday, according to CoinDesk data [1]. This development marked a reversal of the previous day’s bullish momentum, during which BTC rallied nearly 4% to a high of $116,900, fueled by optimism over potential Fed rate cuts and the broader risk-on sentiment in global financial markets.

Options traders, however, remained cautious. Deribit-listed BTC options show continued risk aversion, with negative 25-delta risk reversals through the December expiry. This metric indicates that put options—used to hedge against price declines—were more expensive than call options, signaling bearish expectations [1]. Additionally, the 24-hour put/call volume skewed significantly toward puts, reinforcing the bearish sentiment across the derivatives market. This contrasts with the perceived optimism from Powell’s speech and the equity markets’ upward move.

Looking at broader market indicators, Bitcoin’s open interest (OI) across major derivatives platforms has begun to decline, reflecting traders exiting leveraged positions as the price moves lower. BTC OI currently stands at $30.3 billion, slightly below the all-time high of $32.6 billion [2]. The three-month annualized basis remains in a profitable range at 8%-9%, suggesting that basis traders are still capitalizing on the price divergence between spot and futures markets.

The 200-day moving average, a key technical indicator, recently crossed above $100,000 and has been a significant support level for BTC since late April. This underscores the continued strength of the long-term bullish trend, even as short-term volatility persists. Analysts are closely watching the $111,000 level, where the price has previously found support and could see a potential bounce or breakdown in the coming days [3].

Amid these dynamics, the market is bracing for the month-end options expiry, with $14.6 billion in BTC options set to expire Friday. The “max pain” level is currently estimated at $116,000, a level where the largest number of options expire worthless. This suggests that options sellers may attempt to push the price toward that level to minimize their losses. As the market remains in a delicate balance between bullish technical indicators and bearish sentiment from derivatives positioning, traders are closely monitoring key price levels and liquidity conditions.

Source:

[1] Bitcoin Reverses Powell Spike With a Flash Crash as Options ... (https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bitcoin-reverses-powell-spike-flash-045053657.html)

[2] Crypto Markets Today: BTC Price Underperforms Ether ... (https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2025/08/27/crypto-markets-today-bitcoin-underperforms-ether-broader-market)

[3] BTC/USD Signal 25/08: Bears Set to Test $110000 (Chart) (https://www.dailyforex.com/forex-technical-analysis/2025/08/btcusd-forex-signal-25-august-2025/233082)