Bitcoin whales go long with $86M while retail stays short: Will BTC fall to $60K?

Since facing rejection at $65,409 four days ago, Bitcoin [BTC] has traded within a thin margin, holding between $62k and $63k. As of this writing, the king coin traded around $62838, marking a 1.01% drop on the daily charts, adding to its 4% weekly decline.

Although Bitcoin’s August looks bleak so far, some traders remain optimistic and are betting on a major price rebound.

Bitcoin traders take an $86 million bet

As BTC continues to hover around $62k, some whales are flipping optimistic and opening leveraged positions.

According to Lookonchain, two wallets are heavily long on BTC. These two wallets have a combined position of 1,364 BTC worth $86.2 million. 

One whale opened a 20x long position on 840 BTC worth $52 million. So far, with BTC having slightly dropped, this position is already down $714k. 

The other wallet opened a 20x long position on 523 BTC worth $32 million. The same goes for the other wallet; it’s already down $473k. 

Historically, highly leveraged positions have resulted in short-term pumps. At the same time, it presents a massive downside risk associated with liquidations. 

The market largely leans bearish

Interestingly, although these whales flipped to longs, other market participants remain unconvinced.  In fact, according to CoinGlass data, the Long/Short Ratio has remained below 1 for the past three days. 

At press time, the ratio was around 0.84. When the ratio sits at such low levels, it implies that most traders opened short positions.

Therefore, most traders were bullish and expected Bitcoin to record more losses. On top of that, the Bitcoin Estimated Leverage Ratio has been declining over the past three days.

A declining ELR with prices stuck sideways means traders are deleveraging.  Therefore, speculative demand is not only weakening, but traders have yet to see any clear direction in the time market.

Under such sentiment, volatility remains low, including the likelihood of a major upside move.

What’s next for BTC?

For Bitcoin, the market conditions are skewed bearish, with the downside risk rising. A look at the Relative Volatility Index (RVI) confirms this view.

The RVI crossed the midpoint and fell to 48 at press. Holding below 50 on this indicator suggests that price declines toward lower lows have recently intensified.

This is so because buyers are weak, and sellers control the market, as evidenced by the Bulls Bears Power indicator.

Often, these market conditions have indicated a greater risk of further downside. Another drop from current levels, Bitcoin will lose the $62k support and drop to $60,270.

Final Summary

• Two whale wallets flipped and turned long, with a combined position of 1,364 BTC worth $86.2 million.
• Bitcoin remains structurally bearish, with bears pushing for a drop towards $60k again.