In a bold pivot, the $10B HyperUnit whale flips from October’s $200M short to a $44.5M ETH long on Hyperliquid, netting $300K gains in under an hour—could this be the spark for Ethereum’s next rally? In the volatile crypto arena, whale movements often dictate the tide. Yesterday, Arkham Intelligence spotlighted a seismic shift from one of the market’s most notorious players: the HyperUnit whale, a $10 billion entity with a track record of prescient trades. This enigmatic actor, who pocketed over $200 million by shorting the market ahead of the October crash, has now swung aggressively bullish on Ethereum (ETH).
Why This Move Matters for Ethereum’s Price Action
The whale deposited $10 million into Hyperliquid, a decentralized perpetuals exchange, to open a long position worth $40 million in ETH. As of the latest data, that stake has ballooned to $44.5 million, with unrealized profits exceeding $300,000 in mere hours. Arkham’s visualization tool paints a vivid picture: a sprawling network graph of fund flows, with green inflows radiating from Hyperliquid’s core, intertwined with red outflows from prior shorts. Entities like Binance and Kraken dot the periphery, underscoring the whale’s multi-exchange footprint.
On-Chain Metrics & Liquidity Conditions Reinforcing the Bet
The timeline slider—from 2018’s nascent bull run to November 2025’s choppy waters—highlights a pattern of calculated entries and exits, positioning this long as anything but impulsive. What drives this reversal? Context is key. Ethereum’s price has languished below $2,500 since mid-October, battered by macroeconomic headwinds, regulatory scrutiny on staking yields, and Bitcoin’s dominance squeezing altcoin liquidity. Yet, on-chain metrics whisper resilience: ETH’s total value locked (TVL) in DeFi protocols hovers at $50 billion, and layer-2 scaling solutions like Optimism and Arbitrum are onboarding millions in transaction volume. The whale’s move aligns with whispers of an impending ETF approval for ETH options and potential Fed rate cuts, which could unleash pent-up institutional demand. Whales like HyperUnit don’t chase trends—they forge them.
What Traders Should Watch Next: Squeeze or Correction?
This $44.5 million bet tightens ETH supply on exchanges, potentially catalyzing a short squeeze if retail follows suit. Sentiment on X (formerly Twitter) is electric: traders hail it as a “bottom call,” with replies buzzing about “what they know” and “cult season” memes. Arkham’s custom entity tracker offers real-time transparency, democratizing whale-watching for retail investors. As we edge into December, this long could herald ETH’s rebound to $3,000 or spark a broader altcoin surge. But crypto’s maxim holds: high conviction trades cut both ways. With global liquidity tightening, savvy traders will monitor volume spikes and funding rates on Hyperliquid for confirmation. In a market where fear and greed flip hourly, the HyperUnit whale reminds us: the big fish always swim ahead of the school.