Bitcoin Whales Establish Strong Long Positions Amid Prolonged Negative Funding

The largest traders on Hyperliquid have been steadily accumulating long bitcoin positions over the past two months, with the price chart starting to reflect their bullish sentiment. According to Glassnode data, whale positioning on Hyperliquid flipped 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 steady rise from the mid-$60,000s in February to nearly $80,000 earlier this week. Hyperliquid has become the go-to on-chain platform for large traders, and a sustained long bias from this group tends to precede spot bitcoin price action by days or weeks. The flip to net long in early March 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 deeply 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 weekend's US-Iran talks 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 Hyperliquid's long positions will become clearer in the coming hours and days.