Recently, a “whale” made a bold move by withdrawing 4,700 ETH (approximately $7.66 million) from the Bithumb exchange to purchase 6.8 million PERP tokens at $1.08 per token. Notably, the amount acquired by this whale equaled 10% of the total PERP token supply.
This massive accumulation by the whale stirred discussions within the crypto community. Many believed the whale smelled an opportunity for a price surge and rushed to accumulate in hopes of profiting. However, to everyone’s surprise, just a few hours after accumulating 10% of the total PERP supply, the whale swiftly sold all their PERP tokens for 5.02 million USDT, at an average price of $0.74 per token.
This resulted in a substantial loss of $2.04 million, equivalent to 29% of the initial transaction value. The whale’s significant loss has raised questions about the wisdom of their decision and whether it was a well-considered move.
In the highly volatile world of cryptocurrencies, such unexpected market fluctuations can happen at any time. This incident serves as yet another reminder of the unpredictable nature of the crypto market.
Perpetual Protocol (PERP) is a decentralized perpetual contract protocol implemented by Virtual Automated Market Makers (vAMM). On this protocol, traders can engage in perpetual contract trading with vAMM without the need for third-party intermediaries as seen on centralized exchanges (CEXs).
Recently, PERP experienced a sudden and strong price surge, followed by a rapid decline, catching both the whale and many investors off guard. At the time of writing, PERP is trading around $0.68, down from its peak of $1.34.
This story highlights the risks and uncertainties associated with cryptocurrency investments and trading, even for well-capitalized individuals or entities.