Whale adjusting positions: long positions closing at a loss, short positions taking profits in batches, market risk awareness is rising

On January 9th, on-chain data shows that several well-known whales concentrated their repositioning activities between 10:00 and 20:00 today, exhibiting clear risk management characteristics. The bullish camp experienced losses leading to closing positions and stop-loss operations, while the bearish camp took profits in batches. Overall, this reveals subtle changes in market participants’ attitudes toward the future.

Bullish Camp: Loss Cutting and Caution Highlighted

According to on-chain monitoring data, several key operations occurred in the bullish camp today:

Large Loss Closure

A “lightning counter-trade” whale closed ETH long positions, incurring a loss of $2.536 million, while simultaneously reducing BTC long positions. This operation was massive, indicating that the whale chose to cut losses promptly rather than hold on stubbornly.

Another whale executed a similar strategy, closing ETH long positions worth $15.53 million with a loss of $616,000. These two operations combined resulted in losses exceeding $3.15 million, reflecting the cautious attitude of the bullish camp toward the current market conditions.

PEPE Bullish Strategy Changes

The “largest PEPE long” whale’s actions are particularly interesting. The whale first closed a 6-day-held PEPE long position to take profit, earning $963,000. However, it did not fully exit but instead reopened a PEPE long position with 3x leverage worth $8.7 million. This indicates the whale remains optimistic about PEPE’s future but is adopting a more cautious leverage multiple.

Data shows PEPE has performed strongly recently, with a 17.19% increase over the past 7 days and a 29.45% increase over 30 days. Currently priced at $0.000006, it has fallen 1.94% in the past 24 hours, with a market cap of $257 million. Such high volatility makes whales more cautious in their operations.

Bearish Camp: Taking Profits in Batches and Increasing Risk Awareness

Operations on the bearish side are also noteworthy:

The “20 million dollar swing hunter” and the largest HYPE whale on Hyperliquid have been taking profits in batches on HYPE and XPL short positions. Taking profits gradually rather than liquidating all at once indicates these whales are managing risk after gains, avoiding overexposure.

The swing whale “pension-usdt.eth” has shifted from short to long, using 3x leverage to buy 20,000 ETH. This move shows some whales are optimistic about the future but still prefer a relatively conservative leverage multiple.

Underlying Risk Management Logic

The common logic behind these actions is that whales are adopting more cautious position management amid high market volatility. Whether closing at a loss or taking profits, these moves demonstrate a focus on risk control.

Subtle Changes in Market Sentiment

This round of repositioning reflects several key insights:

First, the bullish camp has not completely collapsed. While some whales are cutting losses, others remain optimistic and are re-entering positions, indicating ongoing market disagreement about the outlook.

Second, high-volatility tokens like PEPE attract whale attention, but their operations are more cautious. Data shows increasing community interest in PEPE, POPCAT, and other meme coins, but whales’ repositioning indicates they are participating more carefully.

Third, leverage multiples are generally decreasing—from 3x to 10x to 25x—whales are clearly reducing risk exposure during position adjustments, which is a protective measure in volatile markets.

Future Focus Points

Based on current whale repositioning trends, several areas warrant attention: whether the bullish whales’ loss closures could trigger a chain reaction leading to larger-scale stop-losses; whether the recent surge in meme coins like PEPE can be sustained, as whales’ cautious stance suggests risk accumulation; and whether the batch profit-taking by bears signals weakening bearish forces.

Summary

On-chain whale repositioning activities clearly demonstrate an increased awareness of risk management. Loss closures in the bullish camp, batch profit-taking in the bearish camp, and decreasing leverage multiples all point to a common signal: whales are becoming more cautious in high-volatility markets. This is not a bearish signal but a risk management signal. For retail investors, the cautious attitude of whales is worth learning from. While pursuing gains, controlling risk and managing positions remain equally important. Continued observation of whale movements will often serve as a leading indicator of market sentiment shifts.