Key Takeaways
- A Hyperliquid whale unstaked 443,180 HYPE ($27M) and sold 231,899 HYPE ($14.15M) as the trader’s short position came under pressure.
- HYPE reached a new all-time high of $64.21 on May 24, squeezing multiple short positions across the platform.
- The trader still holds a 141,500 HYPE short worth $8.67M as 211,281 remaining tokens continue hitting the market.
A Short Position Under Pressure
Hyperliquid’s HYPE token hit an all-time high of $64.21 yesterday, putting short sellers on the decentralized perpetuals exchange in a difficult spot. One trader who bet against the token’s rise is now cutting exposure with onchain data showing the wallet unstaked 443,180 HYPE, valued at approximately $27 million, and began selling into the market.
At press time, 231,899 HYPE (roughly $14.15 million worth) have already been sold, with a further 211,281 HYPE, worth approximately $13 million, still being offloaded. The trader continues to hold a residual short position of 141,500 HYPE, valued at approximately $8.67 million, suggesting the full short exposure has not yet been closed.
Short sellers in a rising market face compounding pressure because the higher a token’s price climbs, the larger the unrealized loss grows, and the more collateral is required to maintain the position before eventually facing forced liquidation. On Hyperliquid, this dynamic plays out in full public view, making things all the more interesting.
This exit is one of many short-side pain points witnessed on Hyperliquid this month, as just a few days ago, Bitcoin.com News reported on a trader known as Loracle, who has been defending a far larger $103 million HYPE short position, selling 616,675 HYPE worth $36.76 million to shore up the position as prices climbed toward the liquidation level of $69.90.
The HYPE is Real
HYPE’s recent run has been driven by a combination of institutional inflows and platform fundamentals. Firstly, a Bitwise spot HYPE exchange-traded fund (ETF) launched on May 12 attracted $58.73 million in initial inflows, while wallets linked to venture capital firm a16z accumulated over $90 million in HYPE, making them the sixth-largest holder on the network.
Moreover, Hyperliquid itself generated over $896 million in revenue in the past 12 months and processed more than $176 billion in 30-day trading volume, with open interest exceeding $8 billion. As HYPE continues to test shorts, Hyperliquid’s open books are turning whale positioning into a public market spectacle.
