- A whale’s $54.46M ETH short at 25x leverage reveals aggressive profit strategies amid compressed price volatility.
- Tactical perp shorts on PEPE, WIF, and OP highlight sector-specific strategies exploiting memecoin overextensions post-rally.
- Diverging moves into ETH spot buys and memecoin exits suggest a hedge against volatility with confidence in ETH’s breakout potential.
A major whale has deployed $2.95 million into Hyperliquid and opened over $66.75 million in short positions across ETH, PEPE, WIF, and OP. According to Mario Nawfal’s Roundtable, the trades use up to 25x leverage and already show a floating profit exceeding $1.26 million.
Coordinated Whale Shorts Amplify Ethereum and Memecoin Volatility
The largest short involves a 25x leveraged Ethereum position worth $54.46 million. The whale shorted 21,764 ETH at $2,550, with the mark price at $2,500 and liquidation near $2,620. Roundtable reports the position is now up over $1.05 million, a 48.22% return, showing rapid profit capture during compressed price action.
PEPE, WIF, and OP make up another $12 million in shorts. PEPE gained $221K, OP is up $54K from its $0.79 entry, but the WIF short is down $9,578. These synchronized perps suggest a basket strategy, not isolated weakness, likely exploiting overextensions after a coordinated sector rally.
This approach aligns with high-frequency USDC movements. Over $4.91 million cycled between Coinbase, Hyperliquid, and internal wallets. One address moved $1.95 million twice, suggesting fast arbitrage loops and liquidity provisioning, further supporting tactical whale behavior.
Divergent Whale Strategies Highlight ETH Confidence, WIF Doubt
While perp shorts dominate, another whale moved $3 million USDC into spot ETH, buying 1,221.3 ETH at ~$2,457. Crypto Town Hall reports this position flipped to a $241K profit as ETH crossed $2,650, showing whales hedging perps with longer-term spot buys.
WIF has seen net whale exits. One trader closed a losing short and rotated into ETH spot. Despite WIF’s +248% April rally, its MACD is weakening, and CRSI dropped to 2.81, signaling fading momentum. The exit behavior matches broader doubts around memecoin resilience post-peak. OP logged an 8.94% daily drop despite rising open interest. Yet Optimism’s TVL grew nearly 20% in 30 days, suggesting whales are rotating, not retreating, preparing for reentry.
Technical Indicators Reveal Strategic Whale Positioning Post-Breakout
ETH closed May 17 at $2,481.41 after a $55.71 dip. Still, indicators remain bullish. The May 7 breakout cleared key resistance with volume strength, confirming institutional presence. ETH gained 56.69%, tracking with PEPE, WIF, and OP.
Binance and Poloniex charts show the April 30 sector-wide breakout. Whales have avoided deep selloffs. Disciplined pullbacks and breakout defense point to strategic shorting—targeting liquidity and volatility, not collapse.
