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Whale Who Netted $200M Shorting Crypto Before Trump Tariffs Bets Against Bitcoin Again
- A prominent whale address 0xb317 placed a new US$163 million 10x BTC perpetual short position on Hyperliquid with a liquidation level near US$125,500.
- The wallet is accused of insider trading due to a prior short placed just 30 minutes before President Trump’s tariff announcement, which reportedly generated US$192 million in profit from the ensuing market crash.
- The wallet’s actions have been linked by some to former BitForex CEO Garrett Jin, who denied any connection to the Trump family or insider trading, claiming the capital belongs to clients.
Just as the crypto market seems to be regaining some ground after experiencing the worst crash in its history (some say nearly one trillion dollars in market cap was lost), the whale who bet US$200 million (AU$308.5k) is… going short again.
On Sunday, address 0xb317 added a US$163 million (AU$246.13 million) 10x BTC perpetual short. The position shows about US$3.5 million (AU$5.29 million) in unrealised gains. Its stated liquidation level sits near US$125,500 (AU$189,505).
Related: Deutsche Bank Predicts Central Banks Will Hold Bitcoin and Gold as Core Reserves by 2030
Wallet Accused of Insider Trading
This one is a bit messy, but let’s try to unpack.
First of all, the wallet drew scrutiny for a prior short placed just 30 minutes before President Donald Trump’s tariff announcement on Friday. That move coincided with a sharp market crash and, by community estimates, produced US$192 million (AU$289.92 million) in profit. The timing has triggered “insider whale” allegations from traders.
Arkham Intelligence tagged the Hyperliquid whale as a “Trump insider whale.”
According to on-chain data, the wallet sent US$80 million (AU$120.8 million) in USDC last Friday to Hyperliquid. It then built roughly 3,700 BTC of short exposure, about US$450 million (AU$679.5 million) notionally, according to Hypurrscan.
The next day, the address withdrew US$150 million (AU$226.5 million) from Hyperliquid, routed it to a new address, and later parked about US$386 million (AU$582.86 million) in USDC there.
A note from blockchain researcher Conor Grogan linked the trader to a large Bitcoin holder that rotated sizable BTC into ETH earlier this year. Separately, some market participants pointed to former BitForex CEO Garrett Jin. Jin acknowledged a connection but said the capital is “clients’ fund,” not his personal money.
Pseudonymous sleuth “Eyeonchains” posted the Jin link on X over the weekend and Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao reshared it with: “Not sure of validity. Hope someone can cross check.”
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Jin answered: “Hi CZ, thanks for sharing my personal and private information. To clarify, I have no connection with the Trump family or Donald Trump Jr.—this isn’t insider trading.”
Key facts remain public and limited. All things considered, the 0xb317 orders and sizes are visible on-chain; if BTC rallies toward the liquidation band, the 0xb317 short faces a mechanical exit at around US$125,500 (AU$189,505).
Related: Altcoin Season on the Ropes? Why “Uptober” Isn’t a Guarantee This Year
Author
José Oramas
José is a journalist and translator with a keen interest in blockchain and cryptocurrencies.
