MW Bitcoin has surrendered the rally. Why it didn't bounce after a whale unloaded the cryptocurrency.

By Barbara Kollmeyer

Bitcoin's post-Powell surge is disappearing fast

Bitcoin is in the throes of a post-Jackson Hole struggle.

A whale appears to have spoiled the party for bitcoin, with the No. 1 cryptocurrency losing its steam and dragging down related investments seen in the wake of comments by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

Dropping to a level not seen since early in July, the price of bitcoin (BTCUSD) fell over 1% to $111,178. That was after persistent weekend selling that knocked it down from a high of $117,411 seen on Friday, as perceived riskier assets rose on hopes of Fed interest rate cuts.

Sunday was a dramatic day for bitcoin, with the price slumping from $114,000 to around $112,157 within roughly 20 minutes.

The sharp price reaction has been blamed on a large bitcoin holder, often referred to as a whale, given how they can influence price action.

"This entity liquidated their entire 24k balance, sending all of it to Hyperunite," trading platform, said a post on X by the founder of Timechainindex, known as Sani late Sunday. "They transferred 12k just today and are still actively selling, which is likely contributing to the ongoing price drop."

The bitcoin selloff has coincided with Ether's (ETHUSD) rally for August, with that crypto up 21% versus a 5.9% drop for bitcoin. Ether reached a new closing high of $4,845 on Friday for a 14% gain, its biggest percentage gain since May 8. CoinMarketCap reported that the price surged to over $4,900 on Sunday.

Ether has been in the grips of a catch-up trade, with bitcoin breaking all-time highs several times in 2025, but Monday saw it also give up gains, down 3.6% to $4,611. Cardano was down nearly 5%, and in the equity space Strategy (MSTR), a software firm that is also a large bitcoin holder, fell over 4%.

Alex Kuptsikevich, FxPro chief market analyst, said that bitcoin's surge on Friday, "seems to have attracted new sellers, pushing the coin below its 50-day average.

"So far, it looks like liquidity is being transferred from BTC to ETH or other altcoins, such as SOL. However, we cannot rule out the possibility that all processes are starting in bitcoin, and a similar shift to selling on growth is just around the corner in altcoins," Kuptsikevich told clients in a note.

The analyst added that companies appear to be buying less bitcoin on a daily basis.

Some suggested bitcoin's reversal could also be a forewarning for stocks. Spurred on by Powell, on Friday, the Dow industrials DJIA reach its first record high of the year, after multiple records for the S&P 500 SPX and Nasdaq Composite COMP. Stock futures indicated a modest pullback was in store for Monday.

-Barbara Kollmeyer

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August 25, 2025 09:17 ET (13:17 GMT)

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