Over the past two months, major Hyperliquid traders have been accumulating long positions in bitcoin, with the price trend starting to favor their stance. 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 bullish 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 reaching $80,000 earlier this week. Historically, Hyperliquid has become the preferred on-chain platform for large traders, and a sustained long bias from this group often precedes spot bitcoin price movements by several days to weeks.
The early March switch to a net long position 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, 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 prone to short squeezes when spot prices surge higher. In other news, the S&P 500 closed at a record high on Friday, capping its longest weekly advance since 2024.
The weekend's scheduled talks between Iran and the US in Pakistan did not occur, as President Donald Trump canceled his delegation's trip after the Iranian foreign minister departed before the US group's arrival. Additionally, Treasury yields declined 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.