Hyperliquid Trader Loses $24M as 50,000 ETH Short Gets Liquidated

A crypto trader known as “pension-usdt.eth” lost nearly $24 million after a massive Ethereum short position was liquidated on Hyperliquid, wiping out roughly half of the wallet’s previous short-selling profits.

The trader had maintained a 50,000 ETH short position for more than two months before a sharp crypto market rally forced the trade to close. Hyperliquid records show the liquidation unfolded in just 12 seconds through five separate orders as Ethereum’s price rapidly climbed.

The forced unwind began with 9,989 ETH closed near $2,193, followed by 20,698 ETH around $2,209 and 15,830 ETH near $2,214. Another 1,871 ETH was closed around $2,236. The remaining 1,417 ETH could not immediately find buyers and was ultimately absorbed by Hyperliquid’s insurance mechanism.

During those 12 seconds, Ethereum gained about $43, creating a feedback loop in which the forced closure of the short helped push ETH higher. As the price increased, liquidating the remaining position became progressively more expensive.

The loss marked a dramatic reversal for pension-usdt.eth, which had reportedly generated around $49 million from successful crypto short trades. Previous wins included nearly $6 million from a 60,000 ETH short closed in June, $3.6 million from shorting 1,400 BTC that month and $1.7 million from another Bitcoin short in March.

The liquidation came as the broader crypto market surged, with Ether climbing about 18% over 24 hours while Bitcoin jumped from around $64,000 to nearly $70,000. The rally triggered a historic short squeeze, with approximately $2.74 billion in bearish crypto positions liquidated within 24 hours.

Despite the size of the Ethereum loss, pension-usdt.eth was not the market’s biggest casualty. A separate $48.8 million Bitcoin position on Hyperliquid was also liquidated during the rally, highlighting the risks leveraged traders face when crypto prices move sharply against their positions.