An Ethereum whale wallet that successfully shorted Ether during the October 2025 crypto crash has resurfaced after eight months of inactivity, deploying a far larger bearish position as ETH tests critical support. Ether was changing hands near $1,580 at the time of writing, having bounced off the $1,500 zone the whale is betting against.
Whale Opens 20x Leveraged Short at $1,500 Zone
Wallet address 0xf83f…6728 opened a 20x-leveraged ETH short worth $19.72 million on Friday, entering the position at an average price of approximately $1,565, according to on-chain data platform Hyperbot. The trade was triggered as Ether fell to the $1,500 support zone following an 18.25% drop over the prior two weeks.
At the time of writing, the position had accumulated roughly $106,500 in unrealized profits as ETH traded near $1,550.
Bear Flag Points to $1,375 Target
Technical analysis of the ETH/USD daily chart shows a bear flag breakdown setup forming. If Ether continues its decline through the pattern’s lower bound, the next downside target sits at $1,375. At that level, the whale’s unrealized gain would expand to approximately $2.39 million before fees and funding costs, based on the $1,565 entry price.
Ethereum market sentiment has deteriorated on two fronts. A broader tech-led selloff pressured speculative assets as Nasdaq and semiconductor stocks weakened. Ethereum-specific headwinds compounded the picture, with reports of budget cuts, a 20% staff reduction at the Ethereum Foundation, and a wave of senior leadership departures raising fresh governance concerns.
Same Wallet Shorted the October 2025 Top
Transaction history shows that 0xf83f…6728 previously activated on October 27, 2025, opening an ETH short near $4,172 as volatility from the October crash was easing. The trader closed that position near $4,133, booking $41,693 in net profit after paying $5,263 in exchange fees.
The strategy appears consistent across both trades: short into price weakness using high leverage and ride downside momentum. The critical difference is scale. The current position carries nearly $20 million in notional exposure, dwarfing the October 2025 trade in size and risk.
Double Bottom Pattern Poses Risk to the Short
The bearish trade is not without significant counter-risk. ETH’s daily chart is showing a potential double bottom forming near the $1,500 to $1,512 support band, a zone where buyers intervened twice during June. The pattern remains unconfirmed, but the key level to watch is the neckline near $1,850: a confirmed daily close above it would validate the double bottom and project a measured move toward roughly $2,190. That target sits close to the whale’s estimated liquidation zone near $2,150, meaning a bullish reversal could force the trader to add collateral or face liquidation. The whale must navigate a narrow window: either ETH continues its bear flag breakdown toward $1,375, extending the short’s profitability, or buyers reclaim $1,500 convincingly and push toward $1,850, turning the $19.72 million bet into a costly overreach.
