Cryptocurrency traders on the Hyperliquid perpetual exchange are placing increasingly aggressive leveraged bets that Bitcoin will surpass $75,000 after a strong rally at the start of the week.
Bitcoin rose to around $71,000 on Tuesday, up from around $65,000 when BTC futures opened Sunday night. The move has revived calls for a retest of recent highs after being rejected near $74,000 last week.
Onchain data shows several large traders, often referred to as “whales,” opening highly leveraged long positions in Hyperliquid as prices rise.
A trader holds ether (ETH) and bitcoin long positions worth $194 million with unrealized gains and losses of around $6.5 million. Another account has long positions worth $103 million across a multitude of trading pairs, betting on a broader crypto breakout rather than a rally dominated by majors.
Positions on Hyperliquid are typically opened with leverage, allowing traders to amplify exposure. One wallet, for example, opened a series of trades using 20x leverage, meaning a $1 million account could control a $20 million position in bitcoin. This trader opened 20x leveraged long positions on 600 BTC worth approximately $42.5 million and at the same time took a 20x long position on 20,000 ETH valued at approximately $41.2 million.
The whale also appears to be accumulating ether in the spot markets. The data shows that management spent $21 million in USDC to purchase 10,158 ETH at an average price of $2,067 shortly before opening the derivatives positions.
Another nine-figure long positions prove one thing: cryptocurrency traders are confident that this breakout will hold and will not be a bull trap like last week.
A separate wallet, 0x985f, is taking a different macro stance. Management deposited $9.5 million in USDC into Hyperliquid within five hours before opening 20x leveraged short positions on oil futures, including approximately $8.17 million in crude oil (CL) contracts and $6.15 million in Brent oil.
The same trader also opened short positions in several crypto tokens, including HYPE, PUMP, XPL, APT and ASTER, suggesting a broader bearish stance on select altcoins, while large traders concentrate bullish bets on bitcoin and ether.
The positioning highlights how decentralized derivatives platforms like Hyperliquid have become a hub for large leveraged bets during periods of strong bitcoin momentum.
A break above $75,000 could force short sellers to cover and accelerate the rally, while a move lower would quickly test the conviction of traders amassing nine-figure leveraged long positions.
