Hyperliquid whales face huge floating losses as HYPE tumbles toward $20 support
Hyperliquid (HYPE) has declined sharply over the past month after rejecting near $50 and trading inside a descending channel, falling as low as $22 and changing hands around $23. Traders and derivatives data show concentrated long leverage and aggressive deleveraging: between Dec 18–19 roughly $70M of long positions were liquidated versus about $0.54M of shorts, open interest in futures dropped materially, and on-chain monitoring identified large USDC inflows from a few whale addresses placing limit buys. Specific whale exposures include a 10x long of 207,497 HYPE (~$4.72M) with a liquidation at $13.68 and another 5x long now carrying a floating loss of roughly $22.5M with liquidation at $20.66. Indicators and technical structure remain bearish — RSI near the high-20s and price below the MA9 (~$26) and MA21 (~$29) — leaving downside risk toward $20 and possibly ~19.6 if selling continues. Key trading takeaways: (1) concentrated long leverage magnifies liquidation risk and can accelerate declines; (2) recent large USDC inflows from whales suggest accumulation interest and potential buy-side support, which may cap losses temporarily; (3) significant futures deleveraging reduces forced long pressure over time; (4) a bullish reversal requires reclaiming MA9/MA21 and the broken descending-wedge trendline. Traders should watch $20–$22 support, liquidation levels around $20.66, and short-term moving averages for signs of trend confirmation or further forced selling.
Bearish
The combined evidence from both summaries points to a bearish outlook for HYPE. Heavy concentrated long leverage and large recent long liquidations (≈$70M) create elevated short-term downside risk because remaining leveraged longs can cascade into further forced selling if price breaches key supports. Technical indicators (RSI in the high‑20s, price below MA9/MA21, descending channel/broken wedge) signal continuing seller momentum. Although on-chain flows show sizable USDC inflows from whales that could provide intermittent buy-side support, those inflows have so far coincided with further price weakness and may be insufficient to offset concentrated derivatives risk. In the short term, HYPE is vulnerable to further declines toward $20 (and a potential lower target near $19–19.6) and to additional liquidation events around identified liquidation levels (e.g., $20.66). In the medium-to-long term, repeated deleveraging reduces forced long pressure which can stabilize the market, but a sustained bullish reversal would require reclaiming MA9/MA21 and the broken trendline — events that are not yet in place. Therefore the near-term price impact is categorized as bearish.