Bitfinex crypto exchange saw a significant spike in Bitcoin short margin calls with over 10k bitcoins being shorted in under four hours. Later it was revealed that the Bitcoin short calls came from a whale who borrowed 15k BTC to short the market. The price of BTC started to decline since then falling from yesterday’s high of $34,345 to its current price of $31,160.

This is not the first time when a whale has tried betting big against BTC while trying to manipulate the market with high short positions. Earlier this month, Bitfinex saw another whale borrowing nearly 24k bitcoin to short the market it didn’t go in its favor. The said whale in question sold his borrowed Bitcoin on June 6th at $36k, the price of the top cryptocurrency rose to $41k right after the sale. When the same whale started buying Bitcoin again to pay back the borrowed amount, BTC was trading at $37K but fell soon after to $28.6k.

There was a short-seller on Bitfinex who has borrowed 24,000 BTC last time and wanted to manipulate the market (for borrowed Bitcoin data, please check: https://t.co/GTz5QYGie0), he turned out losing money, more details on the following picture: pic.twitter.com/TZJPMAFVIL

— Jiang Zhuoer BTC.TOP (@JiangZhuoer) June 26, 2021

Would Market Shorts Win or Market See a Short Squeeze?

Many beleive the two whales in question are the same and both have chosen the weekend to shake off the market because of the low liquidity and high volatility. Many other points towards the flaws of the unregulated market where whales with enough capital can manipulate prices in their favor.

The June 6th shorting by the whale might have eventually turned into a loss, but the current Bitcoin short on Bitfinex is unwinding where out of 26,298 BTC, 2,000 BTC has been bought back.

The 26,298 BTC short on Bitfinex is very slowly getting unwinded. 2000 BTC has been bought back. #Bitcoin pic.twitter.com/5YXawia2X1

— Greensentry (@Greensentry1) June 26, 2021

Bitcoin is also aiming to complete a Wyckoff cycle, currently in the high accumulation phase. If BTC manages to complete the cycle, its price is expected to skyrocket out of the current consolidation phase which could turn the recent short position on Bitfinex into a net loss.

About Author

Prashant Jha

An engineering graduate, Prashant focuses on UK and Indian markets. As a crypto-journalist, his interests lie in blockchain technology adoption across emerging economies.