- Whale gains $4M+ from BTC and SOL shorts via high-leverage trading on DeFi protocols.
- SOL short exit in progress after $1.77M profit and $121K in funding earned.
- ETH short lags with $141K loss despite funding gains, showing mixed strategy results.
A high-stakes crypto trader has recorded millions in profits from strong short positions across Solana (SOL), Bitcoin (BTC), and Ethereum (ETH). On-chain activity reveals fast-paced trading behavior on decentralized protocols.
The wallet, labeled 0x5b5d5120…F298C060, maintains a leveraged trading strategy totaling $57.66 million in notional value, exclusively allocated to perpetual contracts on the Hyperliquid and HIP-2 protocols. No funds are currently allocated to spot assets, staking, or vaults, reinforcing the account’s singular focus on derivatives.
As the market pulls back, this whale who shorted $BTC, $ETH and $SOL has turned losses into profits again.
He’s now up $2.17M on $BTC and $1.77M on $SOL, with a remaining $141K loss on $ETH.
He just started closing his $SOL short to take profits.https://t.co/7kv7R4NzEk pic.twitter.com/JtR8VfEzJJ
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) May 15, 2025
Data from the HIP-2 protocol highlights a series of rapid trades executed on the SOL-USD pair. In a time span slightly exceeding 100 seconds, the wallet performed multiple short trades, each ranging from 44.79 to 58.66 SOL. The trades, valued between $9,993 and $9,999, were opened and closed almost instantly, reflecting a consistent trading volume at a token price of approximately $170.80.
These short bursts of activity point to algorithm-driven trading or execution testing aimed at capturing narrow price fluctuations. The repetitive nature of the trades, involving the same asset and similar volumes, suggests a coordinated pattern rather than random behavior. The HIP-2 data confirms that the wallet has not engaged with other trading products, such as staking or vault participation.
SOL Short Now Being Closed for Gains
The whale has begun exiting the SOL short position, indicating a move to secure profits. The original short totaled -357,433 SOL at an average entry of $175.13. With SOL now trading at $170.18, the unrealized profit is roughly $1.77 million. The trade has also earned $121,731 in funding rewards.
The recent flurry of activity observed on HIP-2, consisting of nearly identical open-close sequences, shows the process of unwinding the short. This likely reflects a strategic withdrawal from the position after hitting favorable profit margins, rather than a broader shift in the trader’s market stance.
The largest short position held by the trader is in Bitcoin, where the notional value reaches $113.84 million. The wallet shorted -1,119.17 BTC at an average of $103,665.30. With Bitcoin’s current price now at $101,721, the trader has booked an unrealized profit of $2.17 million. In addition, the BTC position has accumulated $205,760 in funding income.
Unlike SOL and BTC, the Ethereum position remains in a slight loss. The wallet shorted -25,530 ETH at $2,522.26. At current market prices of $2,527.80, the position shows a $141,283 unrealized loss. And despite all this, the ETH short has gathered $ 95,561 in funds, to a certain extent making up for the price gap.
The wallet’s action on these three assets shows a strategic, leveraged bet with the aim at decentralized perpetual markets. With 5x cross leverage, risk and potential reward are amplified, hinting at high-conviction in regards to contemporary market trends.
