A trader who made nearly $200 million shorting Bitcoin and Ethereum just before President Trump’s tariff announcement has reopened a massive BTC short position. This time, the stakes are $340 million with 10x leverage, and the insider accusations are getting louder.
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Another risky move for the whale
On Monday morning, an Ethereum address ending in “7283ae” deposited $40 million in USDC stablecoins to the decentralized exchange Hyperliquid. Almost immediately after the deposit, the account began building a short position in Bitcoin using 10x leverage. This means that the account holder is betting that the BTC price will fall, using leverage to increase the size of the bet without having to commit the full $340 million.
With an entry price of $116,009 per Bitcoin, the account has already accumulated millions in unrealized profits, according to data from block explorer HypurrScan. However, the position will be completely liquidated if Bitcoin reaches a new all-time high of $130,460, meaning a loss of both capital and profits.
Accusations of insiderdom and denials
The unusual timing of this account’s actions attracted the attention of cryptocurrency researchers and sparked an avalanche of speculation. Analyst firm Arkham Intelligence labeled the wallet’s owner a “Trump whale insider,” and other cryptocurrency market commentators made similar accusations, although there is no direct evidence confirming prior knowledge of the president’s actions.
Last Friday, the same account deposited $80 million in USDC into Hyperliquid and opened short positions in Bitcoin worth around $450 million. A day later, the wallet withdrew $150 million, which it then transferred to a new account that currently holds approximately $386 million in stablecoins.
Blockchain researcher Conor Grogan linked this account to a Bitcoin whale that exchanged millions of BTC for ETH earlier this year. Others suggested that the wallet belongs to former BitForex CEO Garrett Jin. Jin confirmed his involvement with the account but strongly denied the insider trading accusations.
This is my clients’ fund, not my personal account
– Jin explained in response to a post by Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, who shared speculation about the trader’s ties to Trump.
Jin added:
I have no connection with the Trump family or Donald Trump Jr. – this is not insider trading
Market context and risk
This trader’s actions took place in the context of dramatic cryptocurrency market volatility. President Trump’s Friday tariff announcement triggered a record $19 billion in liquidations in the cryptocurrency market. Bitcoin fell by 8 percent during the week, and although it later recorded a slight increase to USD 115,796, it is now back at USD 111,354, which raises further questions about the extraordinary effectiveness of the whale in question.
Ethereum fell about 7.67 percent on a weekly basis to trade at $3,974.
Even though a trader clearly has the ability to predict market movements or extreme luck in timing a trade, his or her positions remain highly risky. Any significant increase in the price of Bitcoin towards historical highs could result in the complete liquidation of positions and the loss of tens of millions of dollars.
