Bitcoin Whales Accumulate Long Positions Amid Prolonged Negative Funding

Over the past two months, the biggest traders on Hyperliquid have been consistently building their long positions in bitcoin, with the price chart now 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 ever since, with the long bias intensifying throughout April. This shift coincides with bitcoin's gradual ascent from the mid-$60,000 range in February to nearly $80,000 earlier this week. Notably, Hyperliquid has become the go-to on-chain platform for traders with large positions over the past year, and a sustained long bias from these traders often precedes spot bitcoin price movements 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, the seven-day bitcoin perpetual swap funding across major exchanges stands at -0.13% according to Coinglass, 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 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 reached a record high on Friday, capping its longest weekly advance since 2024. However, the scheduled talks between Iran and the US over the weekend did not take place, as President Donald Trump canceled his delegation's trip to Islamabad after the Iranian foreign minister left the country before the US group departed. Additionally, Treasury yields dropped following the Justice Department's closure of 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.