• Crypto Whale Cashes Out $9 Million Profit by Closing Bitcoin Short Position
• Cybersecurity circles speculate: Was it a cybercriminal gambling with pilfered funds?
• Massive Move: Trader Opens $376 Million Bitcoin Short at 40x Leverage

Cyber Twitter, or CT as it’s known, was buzzing with activity lately as a significant cryptocurrency trading event played out on the decentralized exchange, Hyperliquid. The headline? A major player, a “whale”, had shorted Bitcoin and successfully closed their position, netting a whopping $9 million profit.

But here’s where it gets interesting: speculation is now swirling that this successful whale might actually be a cybercriminal laundering stolen money. Popular X user, ZachXBT, seemed to be leaning heavily towards this theory, although he hinted at more information to come without revealing specifics just yet.

What’s the Full Story Behind This Whale’s Trade?

It all kicked off when a trader made a bold move, opening a massive $376 million short position against Bitcoin, amplified with 40x leverage. This instantly ignited a flurry of activity on Hyperliquid. The sheer size of this position also caught the eye of other traders, who quickly rallied together. Their plan? To launch a coordinated buying spree, pushing Bitcoin’s price upwards and aiming to trigger the whale’s liquidation – a classic short squeeze scenario.

Ultimately, it seems the whale played it right and “won” this round, pocketing that impressive $9 million profit. Meanwhile, parts of CT declared they had “lost the war,” suggesting their counter-trading efforts didn’t quite pan out.

Whale vs. Community: How Do These Crypto Battles Usually Go?

These kinds of showdowns aren’t unusual in the crypto space. We often see community efforts to challenge a whale’s big bet, like this attempt to counter the short position. The basic setup is this: the whale is betting the price of Bitcoin will fall. But if the price goes the other way and starts climbing, they risk facing what’s called liquidation – a potentially big financial hit.

So, to try and force the whale’s hand, other traders – in this case, a segment of CT – try to pump up Bitcoin’s price. If they manage to push it high enough, the whale could be forced to buy back Bitcoin at a loss to cover their short position and avoid liquidation.

Could Cybercrime Be at the Heart of This? The Emerging Theory

The idea that this Hyperliquid whale might be a cybercriminal gambling with stolen funds actually holds some weight. Criminals often utilize crypto platforms, especially decentralized ones, to clean up illicit gains or exploit hacked accounts for financial gain.

This particular whale went all in on a short position of over 5,400 Bitcoin – that’s a truly enormous amount, which does raise eyebrows and fuels suspicion about the source of funds.

Did the Community’s Fightback Move Bitcoin’s Price?

Here’s an interesting twist: the community’s attempt to push back against this whale actually did nudge Bitcoin’s price upwards. Before the action heated up, Bitcoin was trading around $83,183. But as CT got involved and buying pressure increased, the price jumped to approximately $84,690.
Interestingly, this isn’t even the only recent whale-sized event on Hyperliquid. Just days prior, the platform reportedly faced losses exceeding $4 million when it had to liquidate a massive 175,000 ETH long position, valued at a staggering $340 million.