Bitcoin OG Who Made $200M on Trump Tariffs Now Bets $234M Against BTC - Is a Crash Coming?

Bitcoin Whale's Massive Short Bet Sparks Market Concerns

Bitcoin's price has rebounded since the October 10 crash, but skepticism remains among some traders. A prominent Bitcoin OG who previously earned $200 million by shorting BTC ahead of the October 10 sell-off has now placed a new $234 million short position on Bitcoin via the decentralized exchange Hyperliquid, according to on-chain analytics firm Arkham.

The Bearish Bet Details

The whale's new short position emerged as BTC's price rally from the October 10 low of about $104,000 stalled near $114,000 on Tuesday. Since then, the cryptocurrency has pulled back to around $108,500. The liquidation price for this massive short is $123,000, the price point at which the position will face a margin call and be forcibly closed by the exchange.

What Happened on October 10?

Prices plunged from around $122,000 to $104,000 on October 10, with most losses occurring late in the day after President Trump announced an additional 100% tariff on Chinese goods, on top of existing 30% tariffs. This announcement followed China's move to tighten controls on rare earth exports, pushing risk assets lower.

The BTC sell-off was intensified by technical issues at Binance, which triggered volatility in key tokens like Ethena's synthetic dollar USDe. Interestingly, the BTC whale opened a massive short position about 30 minutes before President Trump's tariff announcement, generating significant profits and sparking allegations of insider trading.