The crypto market is down right now and has didn’t get well following U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement, which wasn’t associated to tariffs as market members had earlier feared. A number of different elements are contributing to this downtrend, together with elevated promoting stress from whales.
Why The Crypto Market Is Down Even As Trump Doesn’t Announce Tariffs
TradingView knowledge reveals the crypto market continues to be down right now, even after Trump’s announcement, which didn’t point out tariffs, which have to date contributed to the current bearish sentiment. The market is down virtually 3% right now, dropping to a market cap of $3.6 trillion.

CoinGape had earlier reported concerning the ‘Trump Insider Whale‘ who had opened a $127 million quick on Bitcoin simply forward of Trump’s announcement. This sparked concern amongst crypto market members, with BTC dropping from an intraday excessive of round $111,000.
Notably, this was the identical whale that opened a Bitcoin quick place of as much as $735 million, simply earlier than Trump introduced a 100% tariff on China final week. As such, the whale’s transfer right now once more sparked hypothesis that the president would announce new tariffs or at the very least make a tariff-related announcement.
In the meantime, regardless of Trump failing to say tariffs, the crypto market continues to be down, led by Bitcoin, which has to date proven weak point since hitting a brand new all-time excessive (ATH) of $126,000 earlier within the month. This bearish worth motion is believed to be because of a number of elements.
Large Promoting Strain From Whales
A CryptoQuant evaluation revealed that miners have deposited 51,000 BTC into exchanges since October 9, suggesting they’re doubtless offloading their holdings. These miner inflows notably surged on October 11, reaching 14,000 BTC —the best degree since final July, when Bitcoin dropped to $110,000.


The CryptoQuant evaluation famous that the deposit of 51,000 BTC inside the final seven days represents a transparent shift in miner habits from holding to promoting, which is bearish not only for Bitcoin however the broader crypto market.
Bitcoin miners have traditionally been among the many largest holders of BTC, so the magnitude of their gross sales can put important promoting stress on the BTC worth. In the meantime, the BTC miners aren’t the one whales promoting. As CoinGape reported, Bitcoin OG whales have been promoting into each new excessive that BTC makes and started promoting once more after the flagship crypto hit $126,000.
The ‘Trump Insider Whale,’ who can also be a Bitcoin OG, has been promoting and contributing to the crypto market’s downtrend. On-chain analytics platform Arkham revealed that the whale deposited $222 million in BTC to Coinbase right now, suggesting they offered the cash.
DID THE $10B HYPERUNIT WHALE JUST SELL $222M BTC?
The Hyperunit whale who made $200M shorting the market earlier than the China tariff crash, simply deposited $222M of $BTC to Coinbase.
Do you assume he offered BTC proper earlier than the dump – once more? pic.twitter.com/2qJSfSa1OY
— Arkham (@arkham) October 16, 2025
Gold Might Be Stealing The Highlight From BTC
Up to now, Wall Avenue has opined that buyers are investing in each gold and Bitcoin as a part of a ‘debasement commerce.’ Nonetheless, crypto pundit Plur indicated that this debasement commerce could solely apply to gold, particularly contemplating BTC’s worth motion amid the crypto market downtrend.
Plur declared that “gold has stolen a few of BTC’s thunder” this 12 months and that the flagship crypto has failed to indicate enough momentum. He additional remarked that BTC “choked” on the massive stage regardless of being thought-about the last word momentum asset.
Nonetheless, he famous that this is because of Bitcoin OGs promoting, as possession continues to be pretty concentrated, and that there are nonetheless considerations concerning the 4-year cycle, which suggests the crypto market could also be topping out. Plur believes a significant proportion of those BTC whales have already offered and predicts the overhang will progressively clear later this 12 months.
In the meantime, the pundit acknowledged that there’s robust proof that the BTC worth follows gold with a 60 to 90-day lag, suggesting that the flagship crypto could quickly enter an uptrend, with gold reaching new highs virtually every single day.
Plur additional predicted that the crypto market may be uneven till this window, and when there’s a full decision across the U.S.-China commerce conflict. Nonetheless, he’s assured that the “actual fireworks” nonetheless lie forward, indicating that the bull cycle is much from over.
