A veteran Bitcoin investor has sold his entire BTC holdings this week to shift nearly $300 million into Ether.
The investor offloaded 550 BTC, valued at around $62 million, after holding the cryptocurrency for seven years.
Using the decentralized exchange Hyperliquid, he sold all his Bitcoin and then opened a $282 million long position in Ether across three separate accounts, according to pseudonymous on-chain analyst MLM.
“Either he got wind of some crazy bullish insider news, or he’s just taking a gamble. The execution looked messy and rushed,” the analyst remarked in a Wednesday post on X.
Traders often monitor large transactions to gauge short-term market trends.
The hodler’s shift came just after Bitcoin fell to a two-week low of $112,000 on Wednesday, reflecting “rising nerves in the market” ahead of US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s upcoming remarks and the Jackson Hole symposium on Friday, which could offer crucial clues on September’s interest rate policy, said Ryan Lee, chief analyst at Bitget exchange.
Hyperliquid Bitcoin Price Drops 2% Following $60 Million BTC Sale
Although the Bitcoin hodler’s $60 million sale was relatively small compared to other major transactions, it was enough to create a price disruption on Hyperliquid.
The sale pushed Bitcoin down 200 basis points (bps) on the exchange, leaving it “trading at a 30 bps discount compared to other platforms,” MLM noted in a Wednesday post on X.
A 200 bps drop translates to a 2% decline—or roughly $2,267 per Bitcoin at today’s spot price of $113,370—highlighting a notable divergence from prices on other exchanges.
The move could indicate that Hyperliquid’s order books are not deep enough to handle large trades without causing significant price swings.
In July, Hyperliquid hit a new monthly trading volume record of $319 billion, driving decentralized finance perpetual futures platforms to a combined high of $487 billion, Cointelegraph reported on August 7.
According to VanEck researchers’ monthly crypto recap, Hyperliquid accounted for 35% of all blockchain revenue in July, capturing substantial market share at the expense of Solana, Ethereum, and BNB Chain.
Hyperliquid has emerged as the sixth-largest derivatives exchange globally, boasting over $12 billion in 24-hour open interest—up from 12th place at the start of April, according to CoinGecko data.
The platform surged in popularity in April 2024 following the launch of spot trading, driven by an aggressive listing strategy and a user-friendly interface.
