Key points:
Bitcoin hovers around $114,000 as a whale anticipates further BTC price declines.
Price pressures affect short-term holders, whose cost basis is just below the $114,000 threshold.
Important moving averages are being monitored as potential support levels.
Bitcoin (BTC) faced difficulties maintaining its rebound with the start of Wall Street trading on Monday, as a notable whale expanded their bet against BTC price increases.
Bitcoin whale amplifies bearish stance on BTC price
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView indicated BTC/USD pulling back from daily peaks of $116,000.
The pair promptly filled an upside “gap” in CME Group’s Bitcoin futures market, and then slipped below the daily opening price.
$BTC CME Gap has now been closed ✅ https://t.co/Cd6fq3Na1A pic.twitter.com/OWy2aa1bb6
— Daan Crypto Trades (@DaanCrypto) October 13, 2025
The markets remained unaffected by US government discussions regarding a potential US-China trade action that could prevent a significant tariff increase.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced “working level” discussions with China later this week.
“This appears to be a tactical move by Beijing to influence pre-summit negotiations, rather than a strategic withdrawal,” stated analysts from Morgan Stanley in a note, as reported by sources including Reuters.
As investors awaited signals, focus shifted to an unidentified Bitcoin whale who took advantage of Friday’s $20 billion liquidation incident by shorting just before the China-related news surfaced.
On Monday, this entity increased its short position, which was valued at 3,500 BTC with a liquidation threshold near $120,000 at the time of writing.
“As I mentioned yesterday, he may wish to incur losses or face liquidation so others won’t suspect he had insider information,” crypto analyst and entrepreneur Ted Pillows reacted in a post on X.
Commentator Max Keiser suggested the possibility of misconduct, claiming that “banks are providing (i.e., printing) billions to support naked Bitcoin shorts.”
“This won’t succeed,” he added.
Bitcoin speculators oscillate between profit and loss
BTC price movement thus lingered around a vital support line, represented by the cumulative cost basis of short-term holders (STHs).
Related: $120K or end of bull market? 5 things to know in Bitcoin this week
As reported by Cointelegraph, STH wallets, associated with entities holding for up to six months, act as a buffer during downturns in the bull market.
Data from on-chain analytics platform Glassnode shows the STH cost basis at $113,861 as of Sunday.
Continuing, on-chain analytics platform CryptoQuant noted three key trend lines to monitor moving forward: the 30-day, 90-day, and 200-day simple moving averages (SMAs).
In one of its “Quicktake” blog posts on the day, contributor Arab Chain stated:
“This pattern indicates that the long-term structural uptrend remains intact (as the price is still above the 200-DMA), but the short- to medium-term tactical momentum has diminished, with the price now below the 30- and 90-DMA, which have formed a dynamic resistance zone.”
This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.
