A Bear That Keeps Winning
Onchain analytics firm Nansen said a Hyperliquid trader (referred to by the firm as a “Perps Perma-Bear“) is 81% short with a $2.7 million all-time profit and loss (PnL) on the decentralized perpetual-futures exchange. The wallet’s largest position is a $13.57 million short on HYPE, Hyperliquid’s native token, showing a $539,000 gain. Shorts on ether (ETH) and bitcoin (BTC) are also in the green, up about $226,000 and $138,000 respectively.
The trader is not uniformly bearish, however. “Despite being a Perma-Bear, they’re not short on everything,” Nansen noted, adding that the wallet holds select long positions even as its short book dominates.
The bet is paying off because HYPE has retreated from its highs after hitting an all-time high of $75.51 on June 2. It is now trading closer to $58, roughly 25% below that peak. The decline has rewarded shorts after a euphoric spring run-up.
Moreover, Bitcoin.com News reported last month that HYPE had been hitting a string of price highs seemingly every other week as the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) cracked open the U.S. perpetuals market, clearing the first domestically regulated perpetual futures contract. The breakthrough drew institutional attention to Hyperliquid, the dominant onchain venue for perpetual futures (i.e. derivatives that let traders bet on price with leverage and no expiry date).
Whales on Both Sides
The perma-bear is far from the only large player operating in this space, as wallets linked to venture firm a16z have also accumulated more than $90 million in HYPE, becoming one of the token’s biggest holders. Other traders have leaned bearish, with one whale dumping roughly $36 million in HYPE to shore up a $103 million short as liquidation risk built.
The leverage cut both ways as another account banked $7.5 million in four days on ZEC and HYPE longs before rotating into a leveraged ether position. The crowd of large, visible positions partly reflects new tooling with Nansen recently integrating Hyperliquid perpetuals into its dashboard, turning its analytics layer into a trading terminal where users can mirror a tracked whale’s trade in the same window.
That said, for the perma-bear, the risk is one of symmetry and with open interest elevated and institutional money circling, HYPE’s next move will decide whether the market’s most stubborn bear extends its streak (or becomes the liquidity that fuels the next squeeze).
