Need to Know
- Large-scale traders on Hyperliquid have changed tactics from net-short to their relatively most aggressive net-long bitcoin positioning since early March of 2026, which coincided with bitcoin’s climb from the middle of $60,000 approaching $80,000.
- This group of holders, which typically runs positions above $10 million, has historically been ahead in terms of spot bitcoin moves by days or weeks, and the current long position aligns with 47 consecutive days of negative funding rates that effectively leave shorts paying longs.
- With the current situation of U.S. stocks at record highs, oil and Treasury yields easing, any macro-driven reversal could trigger a short squeeze that either richly rewards or rapidly unwinds these Hyperliquid whale longs.
Long Bias Position Since February
Long bias from the largest perpetual traders on Hyperliquid, a decentralized trading platform for perpetual futures and other derivatives, has built steadily through February till April, with the position now leaning aggressively long as bitcoin nears $80,000 and US-Iran talks resume.
The biggest Hyperliquid traders have been building a long bitcoin BTC$79,177.33 position for two months, and the price trend is starting to break their way.
Whale Positioning Flipped from March
Data from Glassnode shows whale positioning on Hyperliquid, the onchain perpetual futures exchange, flipped from net short to net long in early March and has stayed long since then, with the size of the long bias increasing through April.
The shift in position coincides with bitcoin moving higher from the middle range of $60,000 in February to approach $80,000 earlier this week.
In 2025, Hyperliquid has become the onchain venue of choice for traders running large positions. A sustained long bias from that group tends to lead spot bitcoin price direction by days to weeks rather than follow it.
Most Aggressive Long on Record
The flip to net long in early March came first before the recovery from the mid-$60,000 level of bitcoin. The positioning is now the most aggressively long it has been across the dataset.
According to Coinglass, bitcoin perpetual swap funding across major exchanges is currently at -0.13% on a seven-day basis. This means that shorts are paying longs to keep their positions open.
That negative funding has been maintained for approximately 47 consecutive days, one of the longest stretches of bearish derivatives positioning in history. Prolonged negative funding taken with aggressive long positioning from Hyperliquid whales is the technical situation that produces short squeezes when spot prices break higher.
