Bitcoin Whales Establish Aggressive Long Positions Amid Prolonged Negative Funding

For two months, the biggest traders on Hyperliquid have been accumulating long bitcoin positions, and the price trend is starting to reflect this. 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 through April. This shift coincides with bitcoin's gradual ascent from the mid-$60,000s in February to nearly $80,000 earlier this week. Hyperliquid has become the preferred on-chain platform for large position traders over the past year, and a sustained long bias from this group tends to precede spot bitcoin price movements by days to weeks. The early March shift 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 is 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 by Hyperliquid whales creates a technical setup that can lead to short squeezes when spot prices rise. In other news, the S&P 500 closed at a record high on Friday, marking its longest weekly advance since 2024. The weekend's scheduled talks between Iran and the US did not occur, as President Donald Trump canceled his delegation's trip to Islamabad after the Iranian foreign minister left the country. Additionally, Treasury yields dropped as 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.