- A trader opened a $154M XRP short on Hyperliquid, already facing steep losses.
- XRP slipped to $2.70, marking monthly lows before a slight recovery.
A high-stakes move has re-emerged on Hyperliquid after a trader known for massive positions opened fresh shorts against Bitcoin (BTC) and XRP. On-chain data shows the wallet “0x9018” returned to the exchange with 4.22 million USDC before immediately deploying it into leveraged bets.
Gambler @qwatio created a new wallet “0x9018” and returned to #Hyperliquid with 4.22M $USDC.
He shorted 1,366.67 $BTC($150M) with 40x leverage and 2.78M $XRP($7.7M) with 20x leverage, resulting in a loss of over $1.2M.
Liquidation price:$BTC: $110,280$XRP: $3.0665… pic.twitter.com/KbNN9yz3Ty
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) September 26, 2025
According to tracking platform Lookonchain, the trader shorted 1,366.67 BTC (around $150 million notional) with 40x leverage, alongside 2.78 million XRP (about $7.7 million in margin) with 20x leverage. The XRP position alone amounts to more than $154 million in exposure, making it one of the largest active shorts against the asset.
The average entry price for the XRP short was roughly $2.71, with liquidation set at $3.0665. If XRP rallies toward this level, the trader risks losing millions in collateral, amplifying the pressure around this high-risk position. Analysts are increasingly pointing to a potential breakout in XRP’s price action. As we previously reported, XRP has entered a rare compression phase, which, historically, such phases have often been followed by explosive upward moves.
Already, the wallet has reportedly faced over $1.2 million in losses, which is the volatility outcome of such aggressive leverage. Market observers argue that XRP is where the squeeze potential is most severe, as only a 13% upward move could trigger a cascading liquidation.
XRP Recent Market Performance
The bold bet comes against a backdrop of heightened XRP volatility. The token surged to $3.70 in August before retracing to the $2.70 level in September, while still holding strong gains compared to earlier in the year.
Yesterday, XRP dropped to $2.70, which is both its weekly and monthly low. However, the asset has recovered slightly to around $2.80.
Over the last 30 days, the token has recorded a decline of about 7.91%. At the start of September, XRP traded near $3.01, rose mid-month to reach the monthly high of $3.18, and has since pulled back into the $2.70- $2.80 range. This correction coincides with ongoing speculation about an XRP exchange-traded fund (ETF), with BlackRock’s digital asset chief recently clarifying the hurdles facing such a product as reported by CNF.
