Bitcoin Whale’s $450M Short Sparks Market Frenzy on Hyperliquid

Bitcoin (BTC) has stabilized since last Tuesday, rebounding to its 200-day average above $84,000. However, a crypto whale placed a massive $445 million leveraged short on BTC via Hyperliquid, betting against the market while going long on the MELANIA token.

Using 40x leverage, the whale’s short had a liquidation price of $86,000 and an unrealized profit of $1.3 million. The position quickly gained attention, with trader CBB rallying bulls on X to force a liquidation. In response, BTC briefly surged past $84,690, compelling the whale to deposit $5 million USDC to sustain the trade. Despite the coordinated effort, the whale’s position held firm.

At the same time, the whale maintained a 5x leveraged long on MELANIA, a memecoin linked to MKT World LLC, reportedly owned by Melania Trump.

Hyperliquid highlighted the transparency of its platform, emphasizing that major trades like this redefine crypto trading. Last week, the platform made headlines after an influential trader triggered liquidation arbitrage, straining its decentralized exchange vault.

This high-stakes battle underscores the volatile nature of crypto markets, where whales and traders constantly shape price movements.