Key Highlights
- A whale has shorted $51.65M HYPE across 54 wallets, showing high-risk leverage while the market sees swings and funding shifts on Binance.
- HYPE faces volatility as large traders switch between shorts and spot buying, with $308M in tokens set to unlock soon, adding potential pressure.
- Despite short-term losses, HYPE has gained 32% YTD, while whale activity, token unlocks, and market swings suggest careful monitoring is needed.
One trader has bet $51.65 million against HYPE, spreading the trades across 54 different wallets. According to MLM on X, this unknown “whale” shorted 1,677,529 HYPE at an average price of $34.21. The liquidation point is only about 12% higher than the current price, making this a very high-risk, heavily leveraged position.
Besides the short positions, significant activity occurred during the recent dump from $39 to $32 last week. At the time, roughly 1.1 million HYPE ($30.8 million) in open interest was added on Binance during a 10-hour window, coinciding with a 17% price drop.
This incident drove funding on Binance turning negative for the first time in three weeks. According to MLM, the whale is operating on high leverage with $9 million in margin and has already secured $5.34 million in unrealized profits.
Clustered wallets and connections
Some of the wallets involved include 0xf1..dc26, 0x61..15d8, and 0x74..241e. Investigations into the wallets suggest connections to Arbitrum, Ethereum, and Solana wallets, including the prior $8,000 USDC transfer to rektober, a well known crypto trader within the crypto community on X. Some of the wallets seemingly are associated with the Solana token, $WOULD, which had reached a $700 million market cap earlier this year.
While some users claimed this could be a hedge against HYPE token’s massive unlocking, it is very unlikely as the approach, the leverage, and the narrow margin for error all indicate a strategic market play rather than a protective move.
Shifts in whale strategy
Onchain analysis firm EyeOnChain reported an interesting shift in strategy. Whale 0x7fe8, who had already made $25.7 million from earlier trades, recently closed two profitable HYPE shorts, pocketing $457,000.
Now, the same trader is buying HYPE directly, picking up 300,180 tokens worth $9.51 million at an average price of $31.70. This shows that big investors are actively switching between betting against and buying HYPE to take advantage of market swings.
Market movements and sentiment
According to Coinglass, HYPE oscillated between $31 and $34 in the last 24 hours. The token fell below $31 late on Wednesday evening but rose to the range of $34 before sliding back. The short-term metrics showed minimal gains of 0.77% over four hours and 0.65% over 24 hours.
The weekly and monthly performance remained weak, being lower by 18% and close to 20%, respectively. Year-to-date figures, on their part, show a gain of 32%, whereas HYPE has surged over 230% compared to the same period last year.
Additionally, long/short data from Binance and OKX shows bullish sentiment; several accounts hold the long position and top traders are even more biased in their buy of HYPE.
Upcoming token unlocks
Tokenomist reported that HYPE’s first major token unlock is scheduled for November 29. About $308 million in tokens, or 2.66% of the circulating supply, will be released from core contributors. These tokens had been locked for a year after the project launched, with most remaining ones set to vest between 2027 and 2028.
HYPE’s market is seeing heavy activity from big traders, making it quite volatile. Large investors are using leverage and timing their trades carefully, which can push prices up or down quickly. Even though the token has shown some weakness over the past few weeks, it has still gained noticeably this year.
Also Read: Bitcoin On Break: On-Chain Valuation Levels Comes Under Threat
