A whale dumps $36M in HYPE to protect a $103M short position as Hyperliquid hits new ATH above $60. Here’s what on-chain data shows.
A major Hyperliquid trader is making bold moves on-chain.
On-chain analytics platform Lookonchain flagged the wallet loracle.hl depositing 616,675 HYPE tokens worth roughly $36.76 million into Hyperliquid. The wallet then sold most of those tokens almost immediately.
Only 53,330 HYPE, valued at around $3.06 million, remained after the sell-off. Proceeds went toward defending an existing short position against further losses.
Whale’s $103M HYPE Short Faces Rising Pressure
The trader still holds a 1.8 million HYPE short position worth approximately $103.7 million, according to Lookonchain.
Unrealized losses on that position have since dropped to $22 million. The new liquidation price now sits at $83.33.
loracle.hl(@loraclexyz) deposited 616,675 $HYPE($36.76M) into Hyperliquid and has already sold most of it, leaving only 53.33K $HYPE ($3.06M).
Most of the money from the sales was used to support his $HYPE short and avoid liquidation.
He still holds a 1.8M $HYPE($103.7M) short,… pic.twitter.com/yxIvwYkhFE
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) May 22, 2026
Lookonchain also noted the wallet holds 626,289 aHYPE tokens valued near $40 million. If HYPE continues climbing, the trader may sell more tokens to keep the short alive.
HYPE Hits New ATH as Institutional Interest Builds
Meanwhile, HYPE crossed above $60 for the first time, pushing its market cap past $15 billion.
Arkham reported that institutional ETF inflows, pre-IPO stock trading, and surging perpetuals volume drove the rally. Firms including Bitwise, Grayscale, and 21Shares have been actively accumulating HYPE.
HYPE just hit a new ATH above $60, pushing its market cap past $15B.
Institutional ETF inflows, pre-IPO stock trading for companies like SpaceX and OpenAI, and surging perps volume are driving the rally.
Our research team breaks down the factors behind HYPE’s rise: pic.twitter.com/p02OKaplrv
— Arkham (@arkham) May 22, 2026
Grayscale alone picked up $25 million worth of HYPE over two weeks and staked it. The first U.S. spot HYPE ETF, from 21Shares, launched on May 12 when the market cap sat just above $10 billion.
Arkham also highlighted Hyperliquid’s pre-IPO trading feature as a key volume driver. Traders can speculate on companies like SpaceX, OpenAI, and Anthropic ahead of their public listings. The platform’s total value locked crossed $5 billion this month.
Perpetuals volume jumped 47% in 24 hours to $8.8 billion, with open interest reaching a six-month high of $9.5 billion, per CoinGecko data cited by Arkham.
Read also:
Hyperliquid’s $5.4B USDC Supply Just Got a Major Coinbase Upgrade
Traders Eye $100 as HYPE Price Prediction Odds Shift
Crypto prediction markets are growing more optimistic about HYPE’s trajectory. Arkham reported that traders now give HYPE a 30% chance of hitting $100 before year-end, double what it was just one week prior.
Odds for HYPE reaching $66 stand at 67%, while hitting $70 carries a 59% probability.
Per CoinGecko, HYPE was trading at $59.03 at the time of reporting, up 1.33% in 24 hours and 26.53% over the past seven days.
