Bitcoin Plunges Below $109K Following Massive Whale Sell-Off in Brutal Market Correction
Whale dumps trigger crypto bloodbath as Bitcoin crashes through $109K support
The Domino Effect
One major player's sell order sparked a cascade of liquidations across derivatives markets. Leveraged positions got wiped out in minutes as automated systems kicked in—traders watched portfolios evaporate while exchanges struggled with volatility.
Market Psychology Shift
Fear replaced greed faster than you can say 'decentralization.' Retail investors panicked while institutions watched for entry points—because nothing makes traditional finance happier than buying assets during someone else's forced liquidation.
Volatility Isn't a Bug—It's a Feature
Welcome to digital gold, where 20% swings count as 'healthy corrections' and billion-dollar dump-and-pumps pass for market mechanics. At least the blockchain never sleeps—unlike traders who just got margin called.
Bitcoin Dragging Markets Down
The big dump has been caused by Bitcoin, which crashed to a seven-week low of under $109,000 in early Asian trading on Tuesday morning on most exchanges.
This was caused by a Bitcoin whale selling an entire batch of 24,000 BTC worth over $2.7 billion, causing the asset to plummet $4,000 a few hours that followed.
According to Glassnode, bitcoin has dropped below the average cost basis ($110,800) of one to three-month-old investors who accumulated during the May to July rally. “Historically, failure to hold above this level has often led to multi-month market weakness and potential deeper corrections,” it cautioned.
The total BTC correction now stands at 12%, which is still much shallower than the pullbacks in September 2017 and 2021, during the bull market years when the asset retreated by 36% and 24%, respectively.
A retreat between these two levels this September could see Bitcoin prices back at $87,000 before the bull market resumes.
Altcoins Bleed Out
As usual, the altcoins are suffering much more with major losses for Solana dumping over 11% to $186, Dogecoin dropping 10% in a fall to $0.21, Cardano sliding 9% to $0.83, and chainlink tanking 11% to $23.30.
Other altcoins in pain include Hyperliquid, Sui, Avalanche, and Litecoin. ethereum has lost 7% on the day, but it remains within its sideways channel and had already started to recover at the time of writing, trading above $4,400 again. However, ETH has lost over 11% since its all-time high just two days ago.
“It never “feels good” when you buy the dip. The dip comes when sentiment drops. Writing the number down can be a good FORM of discipline,” advised Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan.
When the crypto market rips, everyone says: “I’ll buy bitcoin if it just pulls back to [insert number here].”
Then, when the dip happens, they don’t act because the market doesn’t “feel” good at that point.
One solution: Write the price at which you want to buy on a sticky note…
— Matt Hougan (@Matt_Hougan) August 25, 2025
