A prominent Bitcoin trader on Hyperliquid has ignited conversations over the weekend after establishing a staggering $450 million short position on the leading cryptocurrency.
During the weekend, the trader opened a highly leveraged short position in BTC perpetual futures that was initially valued at more than $300 million. This transaction was executed with 40x leverage and a liquidation threshold set at $85,290.
As of the latest updates, data from Hypurscan reveals that the trader now holds a 5,022 BTC short position, approximating $420 million, with unrealized gains surpassing $2 million. The liquidation price has now risen to above $86,000.
In addition to Bitcoin, the trader is also holding a long position of 5x leverage on 571,714 MELANIA tokens associated with US First Lady Melania Trumpy, valued at $384,203. This position has unrealized profits of less than $500.
This isn’t the trader’s first instance of drawing attention. Earlier this month, they made headlines for executing a 50x leveraged Ethereum position that resulted in a $4 million loss for Hyperliquid.
The incident led the decentralized trading platform to reevaluate its risk management strategies, aiming to implement “healthier margin requirements and diminish the systemic effect of large positions with potential market impact upon closure.”
‘Hunt down’
The magnitude of the short position elicited reactions across social media, with crypto trader CBB calling for a coordinated effort to counteract the whale’s trade by pushing Bitcoin’s price higher.
A screenshot shared by CBB suggested that Tron founder Justin Sun was among those attempting to induce the trader’s liquidation.
However, despite a brief rally that lifted Bitcoin above $84,690 over the weekend, the strategy appeared to falter.
Blockchain analysis platform Lookonchain reported that the BTC whale quickly reinforced their position by injecting $5 million in USDC as margin, preventing liquidation and bolstering the short trade.
Hours later, CBB acknowledged their defeat, stating that while this specific attempt was unsuccessful, the larger contest was not concluded.
Regardless, Bitcoin’s price has been trading above $84,000, reflecting an increase of roughly 0.8% in the past 24 hours, according to data. If BTC continues on this upward trend, the whale’s position may incur losses.
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