A whale on Hyperliquid has gone viral for taking a massive short position worth around $450 million in Bitcoin, sparking an intense ‘manhunt’ by traders aiming to force liquidation.
The Whale’s Short Position and Market Impact
According to Hypurrscan data, on March 17 at 6:30 AM UTC, the trader closed two positions through Time-Weighted Average Price (TWAP), selling a combined 208 BTC at an average price of $83,392. The total value of both transactions exceeded $18 million.
Earlier at 4:30 AM UTC, the whale added $7.5 million in collateral to its Bitcoin short position to prevent liquidation on Hyperliquid. Despite accumulating an unrealized loss of nearly $1.1 million, the whale still managed to keep the position afloat.
At present, the whale holds 5,167 BTC in its short position, valued at around $429 million, with 40x leverage and an unrealized profit of $4 million. Additionally, the trader has a separate long position with 5x leverage for 571,715 MELANIA tokens, worth approximately $390,000.
The ‘Manhunt’ to Liquidate the Whale
The situation escalated when a crypto trader known as @Cbb0fe (CBB) on X detected the whale’s activity and publicly called for traders to join forces to liquidate the position before it could further impact the market.
“If you are willing to hunt this dude with size, drop a DM, setting up a team right now and already got good size.” — CBB
Within an hour, the team was actively buying Bitcoin, driving its price from $83,183 to over $84,690, forcing the whale to deposit $5 million in USDC to maintain its margin and avoid liquidation.
Despite these efforts, the whale has managed to hold its ground, continuing to boost its short position using TWAP orders, preventing the market from forcing liquidation.
Hyperliquid Acknowledges the Viral Battle
Hyperliquid’s official account acknowledged the event, stating:
“When a whale shorts $450M+ BTC and wants a public audience, it’s only possible on Hyperliquid.”
The growing interest in this high-stakes trade highlights how Hyperliquid has become a major battleground for traders leveraging large positions.
Previous High-Leverage Trades on Hyperliquid
This is not the first time Hyperliquid has been at the center of extreme leverage trades. On March 12, another whale opened a 50x leveraged long position for 175,000 ETH, worth $340 million. The trade resulted in Hyperliquid absorbing the position at $1,915 to liquidate it, causing the platform to lose over $4 million in the process.
Will the Whale Survive the Hunt?
With a battle still ongoing between the short trader and opposing market forces, the outcome remains uncertain. If the market pushes Bitcoin’s price further upward, the whale may be forced to add even more margin or risk liquidation. Meanwhile, traders are closely watching Hyperliquid for the next dramatic move in this high-stakes showdown.
