A Hyperliquid trader has a massive leveraged short on Bitcoin (BTC) worth over $160 million. The position, opened with more than $16 million in margin, comes just days after the same account reportedly earned $150 million from similar trades.
According to HypurrScan data, the whale’s new position is already up over $3.4 million in unrealized profit, with a liquidation price set at $123,520, just below BTC’s recent all-time high of $126,198, marked on October 7. Bitcoin currently trades near $115,000, with a daily trading volume of $91.8 billion, up 2.45% in the last 24 hours, as per CoinMarketCap data.
The trader’s earlier short on both Bitcoin and Ethereum came minutes before the U.S. President Trump announced new tariffs on Chinese imports, an event that sent crypto prices tumbling. The market saw record liquidations of over $19 billion as most traders held long positions, but this whale had the opposite side and profited massively.
Suspicion of insider knowledge
Onchain analysts began linking the trades to potential insider activity. “The HyperLiquid whale shorting BTC/ETH yesterday was placing shorts up till exactly 1 minute before Trump threatened tariffs,” YouTuber Stephen Findeisen, known as Coffeezilla, wrote on X. “What incredible ‘luck.’”
Further analysis by blockchain researcher Eye suggested a possible link between the whale and Garrett Jin, the Co-Founder of now defunct exchange BitForex. Jin led BitForex until 2020 before the exchange shut down in 2024 following a $57 million loss and fraud allegations. Eye found a transaction of 40,000 USDT tied to a wallet connected with “garrettjin.eth,” but other analysts disputed the claim.
Divided opinions among analysts
Onchain investigator ZachXBT dismissed the link as speculation. “The only direct connection is a 40K USDT transfer,” he wrote, noting the rest remains unconfirmed. Crypto analyst Quinten François also questioned the theory, saying it “sounds way too simple to be true.”
Jin reportedly still trades on prediction platform Polymarket, where he holds a position related to a potential Trump pardon for former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao.
The whale’s perfect timing and huge profits have many wondering if some traders might have inside information or unfair advantages in the crypto market.
Also Read: Bitcoin and Ethereum Price Surge After Historic Single-Day Crash
