Bitcoin whales increase long positions amid sustained negative funding

Over the past two months, the largest traders on Hyperliquid have been accumulating a long position in bitcoin, and the price chart is starting to reflect this trend. According to Glassnode data, the whale positioning on Hyperliquid, a prominent on-chain perpetual futures exchange, shifted from net short to net long in early March and has remained long since then, with the long bias intensifying throughout April. This shift coincides with bitcoin's gradual ascent from the mid-$60,000s in February to a recent high near $80,000. Hyperliquid has become the go-to on-chain venue 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 flip to net long 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, with shorts paying longs to maintain their positions. This negative funding has persisted for approximately 47 consecutive days, one of the longest stretches 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 closed its probe 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 the Hyperliquid long positions will become clearer in the coming hours and days.