A pockets attributed to President Donald Trump’s World Liberty Monetary, which is managed by his sons, withdrew roughly 173 wrapped Bitcoin from Aave V3 on Feb. 5 and bought them to repay $11.75 million in stablecoin debt.
This sequence reveals the mechanics of voluntary deleveraging: as Bitcoin’s drawdown under $63,000 forces whales to promote collateral and cut back leverage, protocol liquidation engines set off at worse phrases.
The deal with 0x77a…F94F6, labeled as WLFI on Arkham Intelligence, withdrew roughly 73 WBTC and 100 WBTC from Aave V3’s collateral pool, then repaid 5,037,001 USDC and 6,710,808 USDC to the protocol in separate actions.
Though there isn’t a affirmation concerning the pockets’s possession, on-chain intelligence platforms and prior reporting have linked comparable exercise patterns to World Liberty Monetary’s documented positions on Aave involving WBTC and ETH collateral.
Nonetheless, the pockets turned Bitcoin publicity into money to cut back leverage and lift well being issue buffers. The pockets nonetheless holds substantial publicity, with roughly 13,298 WETH and 167 WBTC as Aave collateral backing $18.47 million in variable-rate USDC debt.
Nonetheless, its well being issue now stands at 1.54, comfortably above Aave’s liquidation threshold of 1.0.
Why whales are promoting collateral now
Chaos Labs reported roughly $140 million in Aave V3 liquidations over 24 hours throughout a current wave. In the meantime, 21shares flagged $3.7 billion in liquidations over the weekend.
These figures reveal leverage being flushed system-wide, not simply on Aave or decentralized lending, as positions hit well being issue thresholds and protocols drive collateral gross sales to cowl dangerous debt.
The distinction between voluntary and compelled deleveraging is execution high quality, not market impression.
Promoting 173 WBTC at $69,000 generated roughly $12 million, sufficient to cowl the debt compensation. Ready till the well being issue drops under 1.0 means Aave auctions the identical collateral at 5-10% reductions throughout stress durations, leaving the whale unable to manage the timing.
Each outcomes take away Bitcoin from the market and get rid of the leverage that will have recycled capital into future purchases.
At a well being issue of 1.54, the pockets has runway however not consolation. A 38% drawdown in collateral worth would set off liquidation.
Bitcoin has already fallen by as much as 50% from its peak, and technical fashions level to $38,000 as a possible assist stage, suggesting one other 43% decline from present costs.
That makes promoting collateral to boost well being issue buffers rational threat administration, even when it provides promoting stress.
The suggestions loop throughout markets
Aave’s variable borrow charges reply to utilization. As whales deleverage and demand for stablecoin liquidity spikes, borrowing prices rise. That will increase the carrying price of leverage, pushing extra whales to trim positions.
Concurrently, exit liquidity deteriorates: bid-ask spreads widen, orderbook depth shrinks, and slippage on massive trades will increase. The result’s a suggestions loop the place promoting begets extra promoting, not from panic however from balance-sheet arithmetic.
Spot Bitcoin ETF flows compound the stress. Crypto’s whole market capitalization decreased to under $2.1 trillion from its Oct. 6 peak, coinciding with persistent ETF outflows as institutional allocators rotate towards safer property.
21Shares flagged heavy redemption days in current weeks. When ETFs had been accumulating by means of 2024 and early 2025, they absorbed provide throughout volatility.
That bid has reversed, leaving DeFi whales because the marginal price-setters, and people whales are actually promoting collateral to repay debt slightly than including publicity.
Three paths ahead
Orderly deleveraging is the bottom case.
Whales promote collateral regularly, repay debt, and cut back leverage with out triggering mass liquidations. Markets stabilize at decrease costs with much less leverage, however persistent promoting stress from collateral gross sales and the disappearance of reflexive bids preserve restoration makes an attempt shallow.
Public sale cascade is the draw back situation. One other sharp leg down triggers protocol liquidations earlier than whales can act voluntarily. Aave, Compound, and different platforms compete to clear dangerous debt, processing collateral sooner than markets can soak up it.
Liquidation quantity spikes, spreads blow out, and compelled gross sales at public sale reductions amplify the drawdown.
Cross-market liquidity shocks represent tail threat. ETF outflows speed up, by-product open curiosity continues compressing, and whales rush to promote collateral earlier than changing into the final by means of the exit.
Voluntary deleveraging and compelled liquidations mix to create dislocations during which spot costs diverge from derivatives, or on-chain venues commerce at reductions to centralized exchanges.
| Function | Voluntary deleveraging (promote/repay early) | Compelled liquidation (public sale) | Why it issues on this drawdown |
|---|---|---|---|
| Timing management | Excessive | None | Avoids promoting into worst liquidity |
| Execution value | Market/slippage | Public sale low cost (stress) | Compelled gross sales amplify draw back |
| Place final result | Decreased leverage, increased HF | Collateral seized | Modifications conduct from “diamond arms” to “runway administration” |
| Market impression | Distributed promote stress | Spiky liquidation prints | Explains why drawdowns can speed up |
What collateral gross sales sign
The 173 WBTC sale to generate debt compensation is not an remoted occasion however a knowledge level inside a broader sample evident throughout liquidation metrics, open curiosity compression, and ETF flows.
Whales aren’t capitulating. As an alternative, they’re changing Bitcoin into stablecoins to handle well being elements and lengthen runway. That forestalls cascades, however it does not cease drawdowns.
Decrease leverage means much less capital is recycled into purchases. The reflexive bid that drove Bitcoin from $30,000 to $100,000 operated by means of leverage: whales borrowed towards collateral to purchase extra Bitcoin, amplifying beneficial properties.
In reverse, whales promote collateral to repay debt, eradicating each the publicity and the mechanism that will amplify recoveries.
Spot ETF outflows take away the institutional consumers who beforehand absorbed this provide. The liquidity vacuum left behind means promote stress from deleveraging whales meets weaker demand from all purchaser classes, as institutional allocators rotate to security, leveraged merchants lower threat, and retail contributors look forward to clearer indicators.
The pockets’s $11.75 million debt compensation, funded by promoting 173 WBTC, crystallizes the selection going through each leveraged place: handle the exit now or let protocol mechanics resolve later.
Most are selecting now, and the cumulative impression of these particular person selections is a market the place conviction plus scale now not equals compounding. It equals orderly liquidation, one WBTC sale at a time.
