Whale’s post-‘10/11 flash crash’ short sees $35M floating profit erode in 1.5 hours
A large derivatives trader reportedly opened significant short positions after the October 11 flash crash and saw unrealized profits fall sharply within 1.5 hours. According to the report, the account’s unrealized gain dropped from about $40.39 million to $13.09 million, having paid roughly $7.7 million in funding fees; net unrealized profit stood at approximately $5.39 million. The trader’s recorded entry prices were: ETH $3,161.85, BTC $91,506.70, and SOL $130.19. The report is market information only and not investment advice.
Bearish
A large whale opening sizable shorts after a flash crash and then seeing unrealized profits shrink by ~$35M (with substantial funding costs) is a bearish signal for immediate market sentiment. The event indicates heightened volatility, aggressive leveraged positioning, and notable funding-rate expenses that can punish prolonged directional bets. In the short term, such activity can increase selling pressure and drive further volatility as other traders react or deleverage. Historically, episodes where large leveraged players suffer rapid profit erosion (or pay large funding fees) coincide with choppy price action and risk-off behavior — for example, liquidation cascades during past flash crashes. Longer term, the impact is more neutral: unless sustained by continued on-chain selling or systemic deleveraging across exchanges, a single whale’s losses do not by themselves change fundamentals. However, repeated occurrences can undermine confidence and keep implied volatility and funding costs elevated, affecting derivatives pricing and traders’ willingness to carry large directional exposures.