Hyperunit whale’s $200M Trump-tariff gains wiped as $250M ETH long collapses
A crypto whale known as the “Hyperunit whale” turned roughly $200 million profit by shorting BTC and ETH ahead of the tariff announcement tied to former US President Donald Trump and the October market crash. After the windfall, on-chain data from Arkham Intelligence shows the trader shifted into large leveraged long positions — reportedly more than $730 million long in Ethereum and over $900 million across ETH, SOL and BTC. Ether then plunged, forcing the trader to sell its Hyperliquid account holdings and crystallize estimated losses of about $250 million; the Hyperliquid balance fell to $53 while the wallet still holds other crypto assets. The episode has renewed concerns about concentrated leverage and risk management among large traders. Earlier wallet activity tied by analysts to Garrett Jin (using ENS names) drew scrutiny, but ownership was denied. Key figures and figures: ~$200M prior profit from shorts, >$730M ETH long, >$900M total exposure, ~$250M realized ETH loss; ETH trading near $2,418 (down ~10% 24h).
Bearish
The report highlights concentrated leveraged exposure and a large realized loss by a high-profile whale after sizeable long bets in ETH. Such events increase selling pressure, raise short-term volatility, and can trigger liquidations or forced deleveraging across counterparties and margin platforms. Historically, notable leveraged whale losses (and mass liquidations) have coincided with sharp near-term price declines and reduced market confidence — for example, the 2022 liquidations and earlier major derivatives unwinds that amplified downward moves. Short-term impact: heightened volatility, potential further downside as risk-off sentiment and deleveraging persist. Medium-term: if leverage is reined in and no counterparty contagion appears, markets can stabilize; however, repeated large losses erode trader confidence and can slow inflows. Overall, the news is bearish because it signals systemic leverage risk and immediate sell-side pressure on ETH and correlated markets.