Bitcoin whales accumulate long positions amid persistent negative funding

For two months, the biggest traders on Hyperliquid have been establishing a long position in bitcoin, and the price chart is starting to reflect this trend. According to Glassnode data, the whale positioning on Hyperliquid, a blockchain-based 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 a recent high near $80,000. Hyperliquid has become the go-to on-chain platform for large traders over the past year, and a sustained long bias from this group often precedes spot bitcoin price movements by days or 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, the seven-day funding rate for bitcoin perpetual swaps across major exchanges stands at -0.13%, 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 gain since 2024. The weekend's scheduled talks between Iran and the US did not take place, and Treasury yields fell after 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.