TLDR
A crypto whale has placed a $445M short position on Bitcoin with 40x leverage on Hyperliquid, while simultaneously betting bullish on the MELANIA token.
The whale’s liquidation price is around $86,000, and they added $5M in collateral to avoid liquidation when Bitcoin price rose.
A group of traders coordinated an effort to liquidate the whale’s position by driving up Bitcoin’s price, but the attempt was unsuccessful.
There is speculation that the whale may have insider information related to US President Donald Trump.
The whale continues to manage their position through Time-Weighted Average Price (TWAP) transactions, having closed positions worth $18M while maintaining a 5,167 BTC short position.
A cryptocurrency whale has placed a massive $445 million short position on Bitcoin using 40x leverage on the Hyperliquid platform. This large bearish bet comes despite Bitcoin recently bouncing back to its 200-day average above $84,000 over the weekend.
Data from Hyperliquid and blockchain analysis firm Lookonchain shows the whale’s Bitcoin short position has a liquidation price of around $86,000. This means if Bitcoin’s price rises above this level, the position could be forcibly closed with major losses.
This whale still managed to turn a profit despite being hunted by a team!
11 hours ago, @Cbb0fe publicly formed a team to hunt this whale who shorted $BTC with 40x leverage.
Just one hour later, the team was in action, driving $BTC above $84,690 in a short period.
The whale… pic.twitter.com/D6FBOFikZR
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) March 17, 2025
At the same time, the same trader has taken a bullish stance on the MELANIA token. The trader holds a 5x leveraged long position in MELANIA perpetual futures, betting the price will rise.
The MELANIA token is reportedly marketed by MKT World LLC. This is a Florida-registered company owned by Melania Trump, wife of current US President Donald Trump.
The whale’s contrarian trading strategy has caught widespread attention on social media. On Sunday, a pseudonymous trader with the username CBB publicly invited other market participants to form a group aimed at liquidating the whale’s position.
According to Lookonchain, “11 hours ago, @Cbb0fe publicly formed a team to hunt this whale who shorted $BTC with 40x leverage. Just one hour later, the team was in action, driving $BTC above $84,690 in a short period.”
This coordinated effort forced the whale to deposit an additional $5 million in USDC to increase their margin. This move helped them avoid liquidation of their position.
Despite the group’s efforts, the attempt to liquidate the whale’s position ultimately failed. The whale has continued to manage their position through Time-Weighted Average Price (TWAP) transactions.
On March 17 at 6:30 AM UTC, the whale closed two positions for a combined 208 BTC at a price of $83,392. The total value of these transactions was over $18 million.
On-chain data indicates the trader has accumulated a loss of nearly $1.1 million from unrealized profit and loss. Currently, the trader’s position stands at 5,167 BTC, valued at around $429 million.
The whale with a $380M bitcoin short has added to it, his new liquidation price is $86,593
There seems to be a group of whales trying to pump BTC to liquidate him.
Can they do it? 👀 pic.twitter.com/LaM8zmnu4F
— Gordon (@AltcoinGordon) March 16, 2025
The whale’s trading activities have sparked speculation about possible insider information. Some market commentators have suggested the trader may have connections to President Donald Trump, though no evidence has been presented to support these claims.
CBB’s call for a coordinated effort to liquidate the whale’s position gathered swift support. In a separate post, CBB told traders to message them with “7 figs size only” as the combined funds of the team had already exceeded eight figures.
Hyperliquid, the platform hosting these large positions, highlighted the transparency of their system. In a statement on social media platform X, Hyperliquid said,
“When a whale shorts $450M+ BTC and wants a public audience, it’s only possible on Hyperliquid.”
The platform added,
“Anyone can photoshop a PNL screenshot. No one can question a Hyperliquid position, just like no one can question a Bitcoin balance. The decentralized future is here.”
This is not the first time Hyperliquid has seen massive leveraged positions. Earlier in March, another whale began a long position with 50x leverage for 175,000 ETH worth $340 million.
That position led to challenges for the platform. Hyperliquid was forced to absorb the position at $1,915 in an effort to liquidate it, resulting in losses of more than $4 million for the platform.
Bitcoin is currently trading around $83,000, down approximately 1% over the past 24 hours. Despite this slight decline, Bitcoin has recorded gains of more than 1% over the past seven days.
