Over the past two months, major traders on the Hyperliquid platform have been consistently building their long positions in bitcoin, with the price chart beginning to reflect this trend. According to data from Glassnode, the largest traders on Hyperliquid, a blockchain-based perpetual futures exchange, have shifted from a net short to a net long position since early March, with the long bias intensifying throughout April.
This shift coincides with bitcoin's gradual ascent from the mid-$60,000 range in February to a recent high near $80,000. Notably, Hyperliquid has become the go-to platform for large position traders over the past year, and a sustained long bias from these traders often precedes spot bitcoin price movements by several days to weeks. The early March shift to a net long position preceded the recovery from the mid-$60,000s, with the current positioning being the most aggressively long on record.
Furthermore, the seven-day basis funding rate for bitcoin perpetual swaps across major exchanges remains negative at -0.13%, indicating that shorts are paying longs to maintain their positions. This negative funding has persisted for approximately 47 consecutive days, marking one of the longest periods of bearish derivatives positioning on record. The combination of sustained negative funding and aggressive long positioning by Hyperliquid whales creates a technical setup that can lead to short squeezes when spot prices rise.
Meanwhile, in traditional finance, the S&P 500 reached a record high on Friday, capping its longest weekly gain since 2024. The recent US-Iran talks, which were scheduled to take place in Pakistan, did not occur as planned.
Additionally, Treasury yields declined following the closure of the Justice Department's 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.