For two months, the biggest traders on Hyperliquid have been accumulating long positions in bitcoin, and the price trend is beginning to reflect this. According to Glassnode data, the positioning of whales on Hyperliquid, a blockchain-based perpetual futures exchange, shifted from net short to net long in early March and has remained long since, with the long bias expanding throughout April. This shift aligns with bitcoin's gradual ascent from the mid-$60,000 range in February to approaching $80,000 earlier this week.
Historically, 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 rather than following them. The early March switch 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 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 by Hyperliquid whales creates a technical setup that can lead to short squeezes when spot prices rise. In traditional markets, the S&P 500 reached a record high on Friday, marking its longest weekly gain since 2024. In other news, the scheduled talks between Iran and the US over the weekend did not occur, 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 fell 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.