Did Someone Know? A Highly Leveraged Long Bitcoin and Ethereum Trade Closed Just Before President Donald Trump Announced a Cryptocurrency Strategic Reserve

In an X post, capital markets commentator The Kobeissi Letter highlighted how a whale took a 50x leverage on Bitcoin BTC/USD and Ethereum ETH/USD to turn an investment of $4 million into a $200 million position.

A highly leveraged long trade by an investor and its closure just before President Donald Trump declared a cryptocurrency strategic reserve on Sunday has raised speculation of insider trading.

Capital markets commentator The Kobeissi Letter highlighted on X (formerly Twitter) how a whale took a 50x leverage on Bitcoin BTC/USD and Ethereum ETH/USD to convert an investment of $4 million into a $200 million position.

“$200 million of longs (including leverage) is no joke, especially in a market where Bitcoin was down 25%,” The Kobeissi Letter said.

The risky move meant that a mere 2% drop in Bitcoin could have liquidated the trader.

This is unusual: 24 hours ago, someone took $200,000,000 worth of Ethereum and Bitcoin longs on 50x leverage.

This meant even a 2% drop in Bitcoin would liquidate $200M.

Today, President Trump announced the US Crypto Reserve including BTC and ETH.

Did someone know?https://t.co/moTTnqmSWY pic.twitter.com/nktfVJWw5v

Additional data from on-chain tracker Spot On Chain revealed that the trader closed their position shortly before Trump announced a cryptocurrency reserve, including Bitcoin and Ethereum, making a profit of over $6 million.

“Big gamble or insider trading?” Spot On Chain speculated.

🚨 The whale missed out on millions!

Whale 0xe4d31c25 closed his 50x long BTC & ETH right before Trump's Crypto Reserve announcement—including those tokens.

📊 His trades (24h ago):

🔹 ETH long at $2.195K | $200M position

🔹 BTC long at $85.6K | $72M position

💰 Closed 2H ago… pic.twitter.com/qG5OkTQpXN

On-chain sleuth and Coinbase executive Conor Grogan investigated the trader's activity and found that the funds came from phishing.

“Turns out he's just a gambler with stolen funds and not someone with inside info,” Grogan said.

I tracked this guy's wallet and it turns out he got his funds from phishing and is a roobet whale. He also closed his longs before the Trump second announcement missing out on tens of millions

Turns out he's a gambler with stolen funds and not someone with inside info https://t.co/PZRKEme1Pe

See Also: Bitcoin Is Digital Gold But ‘What’s The Rationale For An XRP Coin', Asks Peter Schiff: Cardano Founder Says Trump Made The Right Decision

The timing of the transaction is interesting given that Bitcoin and Ethereum saw a subsequent rally following Trump’s announcement. Bitcoin shot past the $95,000 mark, while Ethereum saw double-digit percentage gains to trade above $2,500.

This wasn't the first time that suspicious trading activity was linked to Trump's cryptocurrency announcements. Back in January, a whale had snapped up $5 million in Official Trump TRUMP/USD minutes after Trump claimed ignorance about it.

Pointing to the fact that the investor missed out on further gains that could have reached tens of millions of dollars, The Kobeissi Letter stated, “This is the riskiest move I've ever seen someone make in crypto.”

The Kobeissi Letter further noted that the investor's capital was invested in a manner common among liquidity providers, engaging in pairs trading to maintain a balanced portfolio.

Highlighting the significant sums involved, The Kobeissi Letter remarked, “$200 million is no small potatoes.”

The investor's capital was initially invested in cryptocurrency derivatives, with the majority allocated to Bitcoin and a smaller portion to Ethereum.

Expressing surprise at the investor's preference for Bitcoin over Ethereum, The Kobeissi Letter stated, “I expected more ETH, but I guess he prefers BTC.”

As the investor's capital flowed into cryptocurrency derivatives, it was later used for spot trading, indicating a shift in investment strategy.

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The Kobeissi Letter

Capital Markets & Technology

President Trump Announces U.S. Crypto Mena Strategicyminution Includes Bitcoin and Ethereum

Capital markets commentator

Highlighting how a whale took a 50x leverage on Bitcoin and Ethereum to turn an investment of $4 million into a $200 million position.

"This is unusual: 24 hours ago, someone took $200,000,000 worth of Ethereum and Bitcoin longs on 50x leverage.

This