Share this article
Crypto Whale Shorts $445M in Bitcoin While Taking Bullish Bet on MELANIA Token, Hyperliquid Data Show
A group of traders looked to liquidate the giant short position in BTC but the operation failed, per observers.
Updated Mar 17, 2025, 3:06 p.m. Published Mar 17, 2025, 4:56 a.m.
What to know:
- A crypto whale has taken a contrarian stance by raising a leveraged bearish bet on BTC worth millions on Hyperliquid, while betting bullish on the MELANIA token.
- A group of traders made a failed attempt to liquidate the giant BTC short.
In this article
has steadied since last Tuesday, bouncing to its 200-day average above $84,000 over the weekend. Still, a crypto whale has taken a contrarian stance by raising a leveraged bearish bet on BTC worth millions on Hyperliquid while betting bullish on the MELANIA token.
As of writing, the whale held a short position in BTC perpetual futures worth over $445 million, generating an unrealized gain of $1.3 million. The position employed a 40x leverage and a liquidation price of $86,000, according to data source Hyperliquid and Lookonchain.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
The outsized short anticipating a bitcoin price slide made waves on social media X on Sunday as pseudonymous trader CBB invited other market participants for a consortium of bulls aimed at liquidating the whale.
Advertisement
"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," blockchain sleuth Lookonchain said on X.
"The whale was forced to deposit $5M USDC to increase margin and avoid liquidation. But the hunt ultimately failed," Lookonchain added.
As of writing, the crypto whale also held a 5x leveraged long position in the MELANIA perpetual futures, anticipating a price rise in the memecoin reportedly marketed by MKT World LLC, a Florida-registered company owned by Melania Trump, the wife of U.S. President Donald Trump.
Hyperliquid cheered the whole episode on X, saying the transparency of trading positions on its platform has redefined trading.
"When a whale shorts $450M+ BTC and wants a public audience, it's only possible on Hyperliquid. When headlines say "Bitcoin Market on Edge," they are equating "Hyperliquid" with the "market." 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," Hyperliquid said.
The platform was in the news last week after an influential whale executed the so-called "liquidation arbitrage" by extracting floating profits, leading to a margin shortage. That induced liquidation and transferred the risk to the decentralized exchange's HLP vault.
More For You
Exchange Review - March 2025
CoinDesk Data's monthly Exchange Review captures the key developments within the cryptocurrency exchange market. The report includes analyses that relate to exchange volumes, crypto derivatives trading, market segmentation by fees, fiat trading, and more.
What to know:
Trading activity softened in March as market uncertainty grew amid escalating tariff tensions between the U.S. and global trading partners. Centralized exchanges recorded their lowest combined trading volume since October, declining 6.24% to $6.79tn. This marked the third consecutive monthly decline across both market segments, with spot trading volume falling 14.1% to $1.98tn and derivatives trading slipping 2.56% to $4.81tn.
- Trading Volumes Decline for Third Consecutive Month: Combined spot and derivatives trading volume on centralized exchanges fell by 6.24% to $6.79tn in March 2025, reaching the lowest level since October. Both spot and derivatives markets recorded their third consecutive monthly decline, falling 14.1% and 2.56% to $1.98tn and $4.81tn respectively.
- Institutional Crypto Trading Volume on CME Falls 23.5%: In March, total derivatives trading volume on the CME exchange fell by 23.5% to $175bn, the lowest monthly volume since October 2024. CME's market share among derivatives exchanges dropped from 4.63% to 3.64%, suggesting declining institutional interest amid current macroeconomic conditions.
- Bybit Spot Market Share Slides in March: Spot trading volume on Bybit fell by 52.1% to $81.1bn in March, coinciding with decreased trading activity following the hack of the exchange's cold wallets in February. Bybit's spot market share dropped from 7.35% to 4.10%, its lowest since July 2023.
More For You
This article is created to test tags being added to image overlays
Dek: This article is created to test tags being added to image overlays
What to know:
- Ethena's USDe becomes fifth stablecoin to surpass $10 billion market cap in just 609 days, while Tether's dominance continues to slip.
Top Stories
