Whale Large-Scale Rebalancing at Night: Bulls Take Profits for Defense, Bears Add Positions to Bearish

On-chain data shows that on the evening of January 2nd, a major whale exhibited a clear strategic shift. The bullish camp began reducing positions to take profits, transitioning from aggressive high-leverage operations to a defensive stance; meanwhile, the bearish forces continued to add positions, with a single position increase reaching $57.32 million. This ebb and flow of bullish and bearish forces may indicate that market sentiment is undergoing a subtle turning point.

Bulls Shift to Defense: Clear Take-Profit Signals

Huang Licheng reduces ETH positions, switches to HYPE

According to the latest news, “Brother Mag” Huang Licheng made two key moves today. He reduced his ETH long position with 25x leverage to 8,000 ETH to lock in profits, then added a new long position of 11,888.88 HYPE with 10x leverage, with a position value of about $290,000. This shift reflects his risk management considerations regarding the current high-leverage ETH position.

Based on related information, Huang Licheng’s overall unrealized profit over the past week is approximately $750,000, with 2 profitable trades out of 3, a win rate of 66.67%. His trading style typifies high-leverage traders—seeking high returns at the edge of extreme risk, while frequently adjusting positions to manage liquidation risk. A 25x leverage means even tiny adverse market movements could trigger liquidation, so actively reducing positions to lock in profits is a rational risk control measure.

Loss-making institutions reallocate

Another noteworthy signal is that a major whale/institution that previously bought ETH low and sold high in November, losing $13.73 million within a week, spent $9.95 million today to buy 2,251 XAUt (gold tokens) at an average price of $4,420. This indicates that after experiencing losses, the institution is adjusting its strategy, shifting toward relatively stable asset allocations.

Bearish Accumulation: Strengthening Short Signals

Large short positions added

In contrast to the bullish camp’s defensive posture, the bearish camp is increasing their short positions. According to monitoring data:

• 0x218 whale increased ETH short positions to 18,875.18 ETH, with a position value of $57.32 million
• “Altcoin Air Force Leader” increased LIT short positions to 3,813,196 tokens, now the largest on-chain short position for LIT
• A whale that borrowed 5,000 ETH to short a month ago closed the position after ETH reached $3,000, earning about $390,000 this time

Market Insights: The Bull-Bear Battle Enters a New Stage

This rebalancing trend reflects several important signals. First, bulls are shifting from attack to defense, indicating that high-leverage bullish traders are losing confidence at current price levels and prefer to lock in profits; second, the continuous addition of short positions by bears suggests increasing bearish strength, especially with significant expansion of short positions on ETH and LIT.

HYPE, as a relatively new project (launched July 2024), currently priced at $24.54, down 4.57% in 24 hours, down 1.89% over 7 days, but with a 30-day decline of 27.65%. Huang Licheng’s 10x long operation may reflect optimism about this project, but it also indicates a more cautious attitude toward mainstream tokens.

Summary

On-chain whale rebalancing movements are often leading indicators of market sentiment. The current pattern of bulls taking profits and defending, with bears increasing shorts, suggests that the market has shifted from a one-sided bullish optimism to a phase of bullish-bearish power struggle. This does not necessarily mean a sharp market decline, but it does warn that the risks associated with high leverage are rising, requiring more cautious risk management strategies. For ordinary investors, paying attention to whale movements can help better understand the deeper shifts in market sentiment.