Hyperliquid Whale's $6.7 Billion Holdings Revealed: Why Are Shorts More Profitable Than Longs?

According to the latest data, the whale positions on the Hyperliquid platform currently amount to $6.725 billion, with short positions slightly larger than long positions. However, the most interesting point is that—shorts are significantly more profitable than longs. What does this reflect? Let’s look at what the data says.

Whale Position Structure: Shorts Slightly Dominant

The long-to-short ratio is 0.94, indicating that although shorts are only $2.15 billion larger than longs, their profitability is nearly three times higher. This is no coincidence.

Why are shorts more profitable?

From the data, short positions have a profit and loss of $41.45 million versus $14.48 million for longs, a huge gap. This reflects recent market characteristics:

• Profits from short positions amid ETH price increase: ETH is currently priced at $3,327.23, with a 7.53% increase over 24 hours. In such an upward trend, shorts can still profit, indicating these shorts were opened at higher levels or closed at precise timing to realize gains.
• Long positions hold more but with limited returns: Although longs account for 48.4%, their profitability is clearly insufficient, possibly meaning longs were opened at lower levels or traders chasing the rally took profits recently.

Special Case: Whale 0xb317’s High-Risk Long Position

The whale address 0xb317 opened a 5x full-margin long ETH at a price of $3,147.39, with an unrealized profit and loss of $38.77 million. This detail warrants attention:

• Entry price of $3,147.39, current price $3,327.23, approximately 5.7% increase
• 5x leverage on full margin means this position has no buffer
• Unrealized P&L of $38.77 million looks good, but if ETH retraces by 5-10%, this amount could shrink significantly

Such aggressive long strategies are common on high-leverage platforms like Hyperliquid and reflect the whale’s bullish outlook. But at the same time, this is also the most risky area on Hyperliquid.

Hyperliquid’s Market Position Is Strengthening

According to relevant information, Hyperliquid continues to consolidate its dominant position in the Perp DEX space:

• 24-hour trading volume of about $7.07 billion, far surpassing other platforms
• Open interest of approximately $8.23 billion, with the best market depth
• Controls 69% of daily active users on Perp DEXs
• Grayscale has included HYPE in its list of assets to consider in Q1 2026

This indicates Hyperliquid has become the absolute center of on-chain derivatives trading, attracting not only retail traders but also a large amount of institutional and whale funds.

Summary

The whale position data on Hyperliquid reflect several key signals:

1. Market divergence exists but is not absolute: The long-to-short ratio of 0.94 is close to 1, indicating that large funds still have differing views on the market’s direction, without a clear one-sided trend.
2. Shorts demonstrate stronger execution: Although short positions are only slightly larger, their profitability is three times higher, suggesting these shorts are more precisely timed in opening and closing.
3. High leverage concentrates risk: Positions like 0xb317’s 5x full-margin long, while currently showing substantial unrealized gains, carry significant liquidation risk if the market reverses.
4. Hyperliquid’s capital attraction continues to grow: The $6.7 billion whale holdings are just the tip of the iceberg; the platform’s open interest has already reached $8.2 billion.

In the short term, although shorts are slightly dominant, the balance of power between longs and shorts is not drastic, and the market is still searching for direction. The key will be whether ETH can break through the critical resistance level of $3,400.