A certain whale withdrew 6000 ETH from Kraken after 6 months of silence

On January 3rd, Amir—founder of Helium, a decentralized telecommunications infrastructure project—tweeted that the market appears indifferent to the project team’s token buyback efforts, so he’s decided to halt wasting funds on buybacks amid current conditions. He noted that last October alone, Helium generated $3.4 million in revenue from its mobile sector, and would rather allocate those funds to business expansion than sink them into buybacks.

On January 3, after 2:00 p.m. Beijing time, a loud explosion was heard in Caracas, Venezuela’s capital. Air-raid sirens blared, and power was cut in an area near a large military base south of the city. The crypto market pulled back somewhat, possibly linked to the incident. U.S. officials disclosed to a CBS News journalist that President Trump ordered strikes on targets inside Venezuela—including military facilities—per a social media post from the journalist. The post stated: “This move marks an escalation in the Trump administration’s pressure campaign against the Maduro regime, in the early hours of Saturday.”

As of January 3, Onchain Lens data shows a whale—who previously deposited and sold 255 BTC to HyperLiquid—has reopened leveraged short positions in BTC (10x leverage) and ETH (15x leverage). The total value of the whale’s combined holdings now exceeds $50 million.

On January 3rd, blockchain analytics firm Santiment noted cryptocurrency market participants have shown strong social media sentiment early this year—but warned further upside hinges on retail investors staying rational. In a Saturday YouTube video, Santiment analyst Brian Quinlivan said: “We need retail investors to keep a degree of caution, pessimism, and impatience.” While other crypto sentiment gauges signal fear, Santiment’s social media data tells the opposite: “Sentiment is currently very positive.” Quinlivan added the positivity “normally would be somewhat worrying, but this time it may just be a normal rebound after the holidays.” He’s not overly concerned about a “flood of FOMO sentiment” yet—but noted if Bitcoin surges quickly to $92,000, that FOMO could take over. “When market excitement runs too high, crypto tends to move opposite to what most people expect.” A rapid rally to $92k would reveal retail’s “true reaction,” Quinlivan said: “If they start pouring money

On January 3, 2026 — the first trading day of the year — Onchain Lens data reveals a whale with address 0xEa6 deposited $8 million in USDC and opened multiple long positions, currently holding an unrealized profit of roughly $2.8 million. The whale now holds 12 positions, including BTC, XPL, PUMP, MON, VVV, STBL, STABLE, IP, HEMI, GRIFFAIN, MAVIA, and AIXBT.

On January 3, 10x Research took to social media, hinting at a potential structural rebound opportunity in the crypto market. “Significant shifts are unfolding beneath the surface of the crypto market,” the firm shared. “Bitcoin’s dominance is starting to wane, and our model has identified a historic key inflection point—one where signals have flipped from defense to opportunity. This cycle’s focus isn’t on individual tokens or narratives—it’s on the broad validation pattern emerging between mainstream coins and select altcoins. Momentum, relative performance, and market participation are starting to align, and traders can’t afford to ignore this. “The current environment isn’t a ‘rising tide’ market, nor is it suited for passive waiting. The next phase will put discipline, strategic rules, and active position management to the test; clear risk control will be critical to distinguishing profit-takers from market noise. While most investors wait for headline news to guide their mov