Bitcoin Whales Establish Significant Long Positions Amid Prolonged Negative Funding

Over the past two months, the largest traders on Hyperliquid have been accumulating a substantial long position in bitcoin, with the price chart beginning 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, with the long bias intensifying throughout April. This shift coincides with bitcoin's gradual ascent from the mid-$60,000s in February to nearing $80,000 earlier this week. Hyperliquid has become the preferred on-chain venue for large position traders over the past year, and a sustained long bias from this group often precedes spot bitcoin price movements by days to weeks. The early March shift to net long preceded the recovery from the mid-$60,000s, with the current positioning being the most aggressively long on record. Meanwhile, bitcoin perpetual swap funding across major exchanges stands at -0.13% on a seven-day basis, according to Coinglass, 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 talks between Iran and the US did not take place as planned, 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.