One Whale Lost Millions of Dollars After Aggressively Building Multimillion-Dollar Positions in Three Altcoins

In another stunning development in the crypto world, one whale of a wallet that has aggressively built multimillion-dollar positions in three altcoins—$PNUT, $ai16z, and $ARC—now holds an astounding aggregate loss that is nearly all unrealized.

Another stunning development in the crypto world. One whale of a wallet that has aggressively built multimillion-dollar positions in three altcoins—$PNUT, $ai16z, and $ARC—now holds an astounding aggregate loss that is nearly all unrealized.

Across five months, the balance in the wallet has swayed from almost $10 million in profit to just under $10 million in loss; at this moment, a tipped-to-the-side scale between unrealized and realized loss precariously balances the two rather against the backdrop of the very profitable-looking alcoves of $PNUT, $ai16z, and $ARC, now harboring a whale.

As per the blockchain data and trading activity analysis, the wallet in question deployed a total of $16.41 million in capital to pile up positions across the three tokens. But things went south quickly, with all three trades now in the red — two already closed at a loss and one still open with a substantial floating deficit.

Most of this whale’s capital went to $PNUT. The investor spent about $9.12 million to assemble a position at an average cost of $0.3448 per token. This move first got analysts’ and retail traders’ eyes, with some taking the buy as a bullish signal from a smart player. However, after weeks of downward price pressure, the wallet threw in the towel and fully exited its $PNUT position just two weeks ago — realizing a loss of $4.975 million.

Next in line is $ai16z, another heavily backed token in the whale’s portfolio. For this position, the investor spent $5.6 million to buy in at an average cost of $0.7447. Unlike the $PNUT play, this position remains open, but it has already generated a massive floating loss of $4.58 million. Unless the price of $ai16z sees a substantial rebound, the whale may be looking at yet another deep red exit if they choose to close it in the near future.

The third and final token in this trilogy is $ARC. This whale entered this position at a cost of $0.2914, deploying $2.77 million in capital. But after market conditions turned against the token, this whale exited the position two months ago, realizing a loss of $426,000. Compared to the other two, this was a smaller bet — but still contributed to the overall drawdown.

These trades have incurred such damage that now they stand at an astonishing $9.98 million in realized and unrealized losses, reaping a 60 percent decline from the original investment capital. I am just stating obvious facts here, with my subpoenaed lawyer’s hat on.

短短五个月时间，「曾花费 1641 万美金建仓 $PNUT & $ai16z & $ARC 的巨鲸」已累计亏损 998 万美元，资产缩水超 60%

's wallet has an aggressive entry into its positions and seems to be managing them with high conviction, which naturally gave off the impression of having either some insider knowledge or the sort of institutional backing that, say, some big hedge fund might offer. In reality, though, we have no idea who is behind the address or how it is getting funded, and analysts at this point can only make educated guesses when working through the possibilities.

A Stark Reminder of Risk in High-Cap Altcoin Plays

Whale wallets are a form of sentiment analysis for many retail traders. If a large player is in a position, he must know something, right? Not necessarily. The recent story of FTX proves that size and even seemingly sophisticated strategies are no guarantee of success. If you follow a whale wallet, you are betting, in a way, on the smarts of a large and presumably informed player. But those bets can go bad in a hurry in crypto.

Regardless of if the wallet is owned by Galaxy Digital or another institutional player, the losses show how fast times can change — even for whales. The recent market volatility, coupled with the thin liquidity across many altcoins, is now forcing large holders to truly consider their positions. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to manage sizable stakes in many altcoins without a) suffering serious slippage (which is how we got here in the first place), or b) essentially acting as a market maker (which is what large holders usually do when they want to get in or out of a position without causing too much of a scene).

Currently, the attention is on the $ai16z position, which is still open. If the token keeps falling, the whale might have to take more losses in the near future. But if the token reverses and the market turns, the whale might have a chance to see some of these losses get reduced.

This saga is a powerful warning story