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Bitcoin whales build long positions as funding stays deeply negative
Long bias from the largest perpetual traders on Hyperliquid has built steadily through February, March and April, with the position now leaning aggressively long as bitcoin tags $80,000 and US-Iran talks resume.
Apr 26, 2026, 2:13 p.m.
What to know:
- Large traders on Hyperliquid have shifted from net short to their most aggressively net-long bitcoin positioning since early March, coinciding with the coin’s climb from the mid-$60,000s to near $80,000.
- This group of holders, which typically runs positions above $10 million, has historically led spot bitcoin moves by days or weeks, and the current long bias aligns with 47 straight days of negative funding rates that leave shorts paying longs.
- With U.S. stocks at record highs, oil and Treasury yields easing, any macro-driven breakout could trigger a short squeeze that either richly rewards or rapidly unwinds these Hyperliquid whale longs.
The shift coincides with bitcoin grinding higher from the mid-$60,000s in February to a brush near $80,000 earlier this week.
Hyperliquid has, in the past year, become the onchain venue of choice for traders running large positions, and a sustained long bias from that cohort tends to lead spot bitcoin price action by days to weeks rather than follow it.
The flip to net long in early March preceded the recovery from the mid-$60,000s. The positioning is now the most aggressively long it has been across the dataset.
Bitcoin perpetual swap funding across major exchanges sits at -0.13% on a seven-day basis according to Coinglass, meaning shorts are paying longs to keep their positions open.
