Wintermute’s Hyperliquid shorts reach $126M across ETH, BTC and SOL

Previous analysis of the Wintermute-linked Hyperliquid short book found the same address carrying substantially larger bearish exposure in August, including shorts in $ETH, $BTC, $SOL, $HYPE and XRP.

Wintermute shorts remain concentrated in Ethereum

Ethereum accounted for $46.92 million of the latest reported short exposure, according to Onchain Lens. $SOL followed with an $11.30 million position, while $HYPE accounted for approximately $10.03 million.

Other positions make up the remainder of the reported $126.25 million total, though Onchain Lens did not provide a complete position-by-position breakdown in its latest post.

Data collected from the same address over previous months shows that its exposure can change quickly. An independent analysis of the wallet identified extensive activity across Hyperliquid markets, with hundreds of orders used for both sides of market-making books.

The analysis found Wintermute-linked bids and asks spread across dozens of assets, including $BTC, $ETH, $SOL and $HYPE. It described the quoting structure as close to balanced at the time of its January snapshot, with roughly $101.7 million of bid orders and $97.2 million of asks.

For that reason, a visible short position does not by itself establish that Wintermute expects an asset’s price to fall. Market makers can hedge spot inventory, options, client flows or exposure held across other venues with perpetual futures.

Crypto.news previously examined the same issue when a Wintermute-linked wallet carried $190.77 million in Hyperliquid shorts in August. At that point, $ETH led the account’s short positions at roughly $53.02 million, followed by $BTC and $SOL. Wintermute did not publicly confirm the positions at the time.

$ETH, $SOL and $HYPE trade below recent peaks

The current positioning comes as Ethereum has pulled back from the $2,800 region reached earlier in September.

CoinGecko shows $ETH trading around $2,644 at the time of writing, placing the asset below its recent $2,800 attempt. Ethereum had already slipped below $2,700 on Sept. 23 after the advance stalled.

The Ethereum pullback after rejection near $2,800 came after the token reached a multiweek high before sellers pushed prices lower.

Bitcoin was trading around $82,863, according to CoinGecko data, down roughly 2.4% over the previous 24 hours at the retrieved reading.

$SOL stood near $118.06 on CoinGecko data, while $HYPE traded around $92.28.

CoinGecko shows $HYPE remaining close to its recent record area despite the latest pullback. The token has traded above $90 after reaching prices near $98 during September.

Recent $HYPE treasury purchases and whale transfers have kept large-wallet activity in focus. Hyperliquid Strategies bought 494,200 $HYPE worth $45.8 million in one disclosed transaction, while several large holders began unstaking tokens.

Wintermute short exposure has changed repeatedly

The latest $126.25 million figure is below some earlier snapshots of the same wallet.

On Sept. 20, third-party reports put its short exposure close to $146 million, with $ETH near $53 million, $BTC at approximately $26.7 million and $SOL around $17.8 million.

By Sept. 23, on-chain analyst CW said the wallet was increasing short exposure in $ETH, $BTC and $SOL while prices were rising.

CW described the positioning as downward pressure on the market. However, that interpretation has not been confirmed by Wintermute and should not be treated as evidence that the market maker was deliberately attempting to push prices lower.

The tracked positions have moved in both directions over time. Earlier wallet data showed short exposure being reduced during market pullbacks before positions increased again as prices recovered.

Public Hyperliquid data make positions on individual accounts visible, but they do not show all offsetting exposure a firm may hold elsewhere. Wintermute operates across centralized exchanges, decentralized venues and over-the-counter markets, leaving open the possibility that its Hyperliquid positions form one part of a larger hedging book.

Wintermute reported earlier this year that institutional clients represented a growing share of its OTC activity. The firm’s institutional OTC trading flow reached 72% of spot volume during the first half of 2026.

Alameda transferred $ETH to Wintermute before latest shorts

The reported positioning follows a separate large Ethereum transfer involving wallets tied to FTX and Alameda Research.

On Sept. 23, blockchain researchers tracked 23,639 $ETH worth roughly $65 million moving from an FTX and Alameda-linked address to a wallet labeled as belonging to Wintermute.

A broader review found six linked wallets transferring a combined 27,372 $ETH, worth approximately $75 million at the time, to Wintermute addresses. Blockchain security firm PeckShield flagged the largest 23,639 $ETH transaction.

Neither Wintermute nor the FTX Recovery Trust has publicly confirmed that the transfer represented an immediate sale. On-chain movements into a market maker can support sales, OTC execution, collateral management, hedging or other trading functions.

Past FTX and Alameda transfers involving Wintermute show that estate-linked wallets have used the market maker in earlier asset movements. In October 2023, FTX and Alameda addresses transferred crypto worth approximately $10 million to Coinbase, Binance and Wintermute-linked destinations.

The Sept. 23 $ETH movement therefore remains separate from the latest Hyperliquid short snapshot unless further wallet data or disclosures establish a direct connection between the transferred Ether and the derivatives exposure.