Major traders on Hyperliquid have been establishing a long position in bitcoin for the past two months, with the price chart beginning to reflect their bias. According to Glassnode data, the largest perpetual traders on the on-chain exchange shifted from a net short to a net long position in early March and have remained long ever since, with the long bias expanding throughout April. This shift has coincided with bitcoin's gradual ascent from the mid-$60,000 range in February to a recent brush with $80,000. Hyperliquid has become the go-to on-chain platform for large traders over the past year, and a sustained long bias from this group often precedes spot bitcoin price movements by days or weeks.
The early March switch to a net long position preceded the recovery from the mid-$60,000s, and the current positioning is the most aggressively long on record. Meanwhile, bitcoin perpetual swap funding across major exchanges remains negative at -0.13% on a seven-day basis, indicating that shorts are paying longs to maintain their positions. This negative funding has persisted for approximately 47 consecutive days, one of the longest periods of bearish derivatives positioning on record. The combination of sustained negative funding and aggressive long positioning from Hyperliquid whales creates a technical setup that can lead to short squeezes when spot prices break higher.
In other news, the S&P 500 closed at a record high on Friday, marking its longest weekly advance since 2024. The recent US-Iran talks in Pakistan were canceled, and Treasury yields dropped after the Justice Department concluded its investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, potentially paving the way for Kevin Warsh's confirmation as the next Fed leader.
The impact of these developments on Hyperliquid's long positions will become clearer in the coming hours and days.