An Ethereum whale suffered the liquidation of 28,716 ETH, valued at $69.69 million, during the market crash on October 9. This amount represents the value of the closed position, while its realized loss would be around $4.48 million.
In brief
- An Ethereum whale sees 28,716 ETH, or $69.69 million, liquidated after the price fell to $2,420.
- The trader records an estimated realized loss of $4.48 million.
- Thirty minutes after its liquidation, the whale injects 10 million USDC and opens a new position on 9580 ETH.
- A drop in ether below $2,300 could lead to further forced closings.
- Crypto liquidations reach $1.19 billion in 24 hours, including $356 million on Ethereum.
The Ethereum whale loses part of its position
The trader used three addresses on Hyperliquid to maintain large leveraged positions. Spotted on October 7, they then controlled approximately $352 million in bullish bets on bitcoin and ether.
The set included 1140 BTC and 98090 ETH. The positions had been opened about two weeks prior, at average prices near $82,205 for bitcoin and $2,604 for ether. They still showed an unrealized gain of $2.66 million before the decline accelerated.
THE main figures make it possible to distinguish exposure and real loss:
- Hyperliquid liquidated 28,716 ETH, valued at $69.69 million;
- The loss made on this portion would reach approximately $4.48 million;
- The trader added 10 million USDC thirty minutes later;
- He opened a new bullish bet on 9580 ETH;
- This new position represented approximately $23.26 million;
- Its remaining positions reached 78955 ETH after the operation.
On-chain tracking Lookonchain claims the whale “continues to bet on the rise of ETH”. This observation describes its visible positioning, but provides neither information on its identity nor on possible coverage held on other platforms.
A new position opened thirty minutes later
The price of ether fell to around $2,420 overnight. This decline reached the liquidation thresholds of two portions of the position, located around $2446 and $2424.
Thirty minutes after these forced closures, the trader transferred 10 million USDC as new margin. He then purchased 9,580 ETH futures at around $2,428, just a few dollars above the level that had just caused its liquidation.
Its total exposure remained close to $288 million after this new commitment. It included about $195 million in long ether positions and more than $93 million in bitcoin.
The top two addresses held nearly 39,964 ETH at an average entry price of $2,647 and 38,991 ETH around $2,531, respectively. Together they showed several million dollars in latent losses at the time of the statement.
This new risk-taking does not prove that the trader is correctly anticipating a rebound. It can also respond to a broader strategy, impossible to reconstruct solely from the positions visible on Hyperliquid.
New liquidations possible under 2300 dollars
The next liquidation thresholds are around $2299 and $2286. With Ether near $2,486, they are about 8% below the current price.
A decline towards these levels could lead to further forced closures. Their scale will, however, depend on the added margins, voluntary reductions and the evolution of losses. The thresholds displayed on Hyperliquid may therefore change before the market reaches them.
The two positions are also distributed between several addresses. Passing below a first threshold would not necessarily mean the immediate liquidation of all 78,955 ETH.
The public nature of the platform makes it easier to monitor these bets. It nevertheless encourages excessive interpretations: an important address is not always an isolated investor. It may belong to a fund, a market maker or a structure that offsets its risk elsewhere.
Ether dominates liquidation wave
This whale was hit during a widespread purge of derivatives markets. Around $1.19 billion in crypto positions were liquidated in 24 hours, including over a billion in bullish bets.
Ether concentrated nearly $356 million in liquidations, ahead of the $298 million recorded on bitcoin. This imbalance remains notable since the capitalization of Ethereum represents less than a fifth of that of bitcoin.
Relative to their capitalization, liquidations on ether were approximately six times greater. Traders had accumulated leverage as the market moved in a tight range. The breakdown of supports then triggered successive automatic sales.
This whale’s bet therefore illustrates less a conviction to follow than a risk specific to leverage. Even a rebound in ether can improve its margin, but a further drop of 8% would put its positions back under pressure.
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