Whale Bets Against Oil, Crypto With $9.5M Leveraged Short

Edgen Crypto

·Mar 10 2026, 08:51

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Key Takeaways

A single large trader, known as a “whale,” has initiated a significant bearish play by depositing 9.5 million USDC into the HyperLiquid derivatives exchange. The trader is using 20x leverage to short oil and a basket of cryptocurrencies, signaling a strong conviction in a market downturn for these assets.

Massive Capital Deployment: A whale identified by address 0x985f deposited 9.5 million USDC into the HyperLiquid exchange to fund the operation.
High-Leverage Short Positions: The trader used 20x leverage to open short positions, including a roughly $14.32 million bet against oil contracts.
Broad Market Bet: The shorts target both traditional commodities (oil contracts CL and BRENTOIL) and a range of digital assets including HYPE, PUMP, XPL, APT, and ASTER.

Whale Deploys 9.5M USDC for Multi-Asset Short

A single large market participant, identified by wallet address 0x985f, has executed a significant bearish strategy on the derivatives exchange HyperLiquid. The trader deposited 9.5 million USDC to establish highly leveraged short positions against a diverse group of assets. Using 20x leverage, the whale is betting on price declines in both commodities and digital currencies.

The operation specifically targets crude oil contracts (CL and BRENTOIL) alongside a basket of cryptocurrencies, including HYPE, PUMP, XPL, APT, and ASTER. This aggressive, multi-asset short indicates a strong conviction in a broad market downturn rather than a thesis against a single token.

Oil Shorts Exceed $14.32M, Posing Volatility Risk

The scale of the trade places immediate pressure on the targeted assets. The short positions against oil contracts alone amount to a notional value of approximately $14.32 million. While the commodity markets can absorb such size, the impact on the less liquid cryptocurrencies in the basket could be far more pronounced, potentially creating significant downward price pressure.

This large, leveraged action serves as a public bearish signal to the broader market. The high leverage also introduces considerable risk; if the prices of the targeted assets move upward, the whale could face a margin call or liquidation, potentially triggering a 'short squeeze' and causing extreme price volatility.