Around July 7, 2026, a distinct set of opposing roles suddenly emerged in the Bitcoin market: on one side, Strategy, one of the large stakeholders, announced and actually sold 3,588 BTC to increase its dollar reserves and cover about 17 months of dividend payments. This nominal reduction of about 216 million dollars is viewed as a “defensive” action on a narrative level; on the other side, three anonymous whales (one of whom is referred to as “Maji” by the community), closely monitored by on-chain and contract watchers, collectively took high-leverage long positions on BTC and ETH, carrying nominal long positions of about 148.7 million dollars at the same time, with one account leveraging BTC positions up to about 40 times. One side is actively reducing risk and releasing chips, while the other side is betting on higher leverage to increase exposure, creating a narrative tension of positive competition in a short time. However, according to a single source, when the news of Strategy's sell-off was released, the Bitcoin price did not decrease but instead rose, reaching approximately 64,007.31 dollars within 24 hours, with an increase of about 0.81%. Ethereum also slightly rose to around 1,797 dollars, initially showing that short-term bullish sentiment still has resilience, while the overall leverage risk is being rapidly elevated.

Strategy Sells 3,588 BTC, Bullish Turnaround

In the background of this dramatic leverage increase narrative, Strategy, which has long been viewed as a leading Bitcoin bull and a major holder, chose to take an opposite action within the same time window. According to public information, Strategy sold 3,588 BTC in one go, with a nominal value of approximately 216 million dollars at current prices. This is not a routine position adjustment; rather, it is more closely akin to a "historic reduction" in scale and pace, indicating that its publicly held Bitcoin exposure has visibly contracted.

The official reasoning given is not complicated: by selling part of its BTC, it increases dollar reserves, with expectations that this gain can cover about 17 months of dividend payment needs, while optimizing overall financial structure. According to a single source, many institutions interpret this action as a typical "deleveraging" and risk management operation. In the context of Bitcoin prices still being high, and business liabilities and financing pressures coexisting, actively reducing asset price fluctuations' impact on cash flow. Grayscale Research subsequently provided a more moderate view: it argued that the reduction helps lower financing risk and may support Bitcoin price stability, more like pulling the corporate balance sheet back from “high leveraged long” into a controllable range, rather than releasing a simplistic and crude long-term bearish signal to the market.

Three Whales Bet on BTC and ETH with High Leverage

In contrast to Strategy's active deleveraging, according to AiCoin data, three whales pushed leverage to the extreme in the contract market during the same time window. One whale held about 1,000 long contracts on BTC with around 40 times leverage, with a nominal value of approximately 63.8 million dollars; another held 30,627 long contracts on ETH with around 10 times leverage, valued at approximately 54.9 million dollars. The specific positional structure of the third whale has not been fully disclosed, but collectively, the three hold long positions on BTC and ETH with a nominal scale of about 148.7 million dollars, with a highly consistent direction—betting on both major assets' prices to continue rising, choosing to amplify every upward point with high leverage in the current BTC price around 64,007.31 dollars and ETH around 1,797 dollars.

Among these three, the whale nicknamed "Maji" represents a short-term profit in a high-leverage strategy, with a single source showing that its current weekly profits have exceeded about 400,000 dollars, suggesting that this aggressive long positioning is still profitable over the past week. However, this same structure also hides obvious vulnerabilities: such leverage levels of 40 times and 10 times mean that even small price corrections could lead to concentrated liquidations for these long contracts in a short time, and available public materials do not provide specific liquidation prices or margin ratios. While Strategy pulls its balance sheet from “high leveraged long” back into a safe zone, these three whales stand on the leverage edge and choose to exchange high risk for greater market exposure.

Bitcoin Goes Against the Trend After Bad News Drops

In terms of timing, the news of Strategy selling 3,588 BTC almost coincides with price performance: on about July 7, 2026, which should have been seen as a "bearish window," Bitcoin did not show a continuous decline as expected; instead, it quickly stabilized and rose to about 64,007.31 dollars, with a 24-hour increase of about 0.81%. Ethereum's price also rose to about 1,797 dollars, with an increase of about 0.51%. Mainstream assets experienced slight upward movements, and the market did not enter a panic selling rhythm, but rather exhibited a typical structure of “bad news dropping, price rising”—a counterintuitive structure.

This price resilience resonates with the way the news itself is interpreted and the positions of the whales. On one hand, Grayscale Research clearly attributes Strategy's sell-off to financial management operations aimed at reducing financing risks, enhancing dollar reserves, and covering about 17 months' dividends, rather than a long-term bearish outlook on Bitcoin. This relatively positive framework serves as a narrative anchor for funds to quickly digest the news. On the other hand, according to AiCoin data, the three whales maintained a combined high-leverage bullish position of about 148.7 million dollars in BTC and ETH in the same time window, showing no signs of large-scale liquidation or deleveraging, among which “Maji” has achieved weekly profits exceeding about 400,000 dollars. The actual behavior on-chain and in contracts still leans optimistic, making the coexistence of institutional risk reduction and whale leverage increase a kind of tension in the short term, but from the price outcome, the current market chooses to side with Bitcoin bulls.

Clearing Risks Amid Escalating Bull-Bear Divergences

Strategy's choice to sell 3,588 BTC in early July, with a nominal value of about 216 million dollars, aims to enhance dollar reserves while locking in future dividend payments for about 17 months, essentially actively reducing Bitcoin exposure and tightening risks. In stark contrast, the three whales on-chain maintained a combined nominal scale of long BTC and ETH positions of about 148.7 million dollars during the same window: one whale holds about 1,000 long contracts on BTC with about 40 times leverage, while another holds 30,627 long contracts on ETH with about 10 times leverage, with both sides highly consistent in their bullish direction. According to AiCoin data, with Bitcoin priced at approximately 64,007.31 dollars and Ethereum at around 1,797 dollars, the divergence of “institution reducing risk vs. whale increasing leverage” has been brought to the forefront at this price level.

Structurally, high-leverage positions like 40 times and 10 times magnify every price fluctuation into extreme profit and loss curves: when prices go up, they deliver substantial profits to the whales, with addresses like “Maji” achieving weekly profits exceeding about 400,000 dollars; but if a medium-sized correction occurs, the same multiples can quickly turn unrealized gains into margin pressure or even concentrated liquidation sales, exacerbating downward trends and forming a seesaw instead of a single-sided movement in the short-term market. The difficulty in risk assessment lies in the fact that existing materials do not disclose specific liquidation prices, forced liquidation thresholds, and capital sources for these whales. Thus, the outside world can only roughly perceive the potential liquidation zones based on leverage multiples and nominal scales without being able to determine at what amplitude or time the real impactful chain reactions will trigger.

Next Steps of Whales and Strategy Will Be Key Variables

The current landscape has been clearly outlined: on one side, Strategy's historic sell-off of 3,588 BTC around July 7, 2026, with a nominal value of about 216 million dollars, aims to supplement dollar reserves and cover about 17 months of dividend payments; on the other side, three whales hold high-leverage long positions of about 148.7 million dollars in BTC and ETH, with one address leveraging BTC up to about 40 times, creating a confrontation scenario of “institution actively reducing risk vs. whales increasing leverage betting direction.” Despite the sell-off news being absorbed, Bitcoin continues to trade around 64,007.31 dollars, and whales like “Maji” report weekly profits exceeding about 400,000 dollars, appearing to grant bulls a degree of price resilience in the short term, but this resilience is more a stage victory for high-leverage bulls rather than a signal that risks have been cleared. What needs close attention next is whether Strategy further adjusts Bitcoin exposure, whether the three whales continue to increase their leverage positions or choose to reduce holdings partially, and what feedback Bitcoin prices will give in response to these actions—will they continue to accommodate high-leverage betting or suddenly push the profit area to the liquidation edge? It is important to emphasize that all current position and price data comes from a single source, and there is a lack of disclosure on specific liquidation prices and forced liquidation parameters, leading to inevitable blind spots in risk assessment, making it inappropriate for any participant to interpret the current bullish resilience as a validated “safe boundary.” Under such information conditions, this round of high-leverage whale confrontation against institutional sell-offs resembles a high-risk game that could be interrupted by price fluctuations at any time. Whether it can continue and how it will end will ultimately depend on the subsequent price paths along with the actual actions of Strategy and the whales on-chain and at the asset side.

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