In mid-June, the Bitcoin market was hit by a violent storm due to multiple factors, including geopolitical risks triggered by tensions in the Middle East, uncertainty in US policies, and large whales selling off. The price plummeted sharply from a high of about $110,653, encountering fierce selling. This wave of crash instantly evaporated long positions, with on-chain liquidation scale exceeding $1 billion. Retail panic selling and the chain reaction of leveraged liquidations further pushed the market down into a state of extreme gloom.
The clouds of a potential crash have yet to dissipate. Investor sentiment has hit rock bottom, and discussions of a 'collapse' are rampant on social media. Yet at this moment, a larger storm seems to be brewing. An unusually large short position suddenly appeared on the Hyperliquid platform, causing the entire market's nerves to tighten immediately.
Here's the situation: An anonymous whale opened a 40x leveraged short position on Hyperliquid, with a position value of $115 million, an initial margin of $7.3 million USDC, and then added another $4.97 million. The weighted average opening price is $107,766, and the liquidation price for this position is set in a very sensitive area: $110,826. That is to say, as long as Bitcoin does not rise by less than 3%, the entire position will be directly liquidated.
This is not an ordinary short position; it is a matter of 'betting one's life on a direction'. In other words, this is the whale's fate and also the market's weather vane.
Deconstructing whale behavior: This is not about luck; it's about betting on the 'short defense line'.
First, let's break down this whale's operational rhythm:
The first position was built on May 21, when the BTC price was about $107,192, directly using 40x leverage with a margin of $7.3 million, leaving almost no room for error, making it a decisive entry;
On June 12, an additional investment of $4.97 million was made, adding to the short position—this is not a panic remedy but more like an increase in a predetermined direction, or in other words, it is ammunition storage for 'holding out until a counterattack';
The average holding cost has been raised to $107,766, and the liquidation price has also moved up to $110,826—this price level just happens to land on several key resistance points, like a 'short life line' drawn by the whale.
From this rhythm, this does not appear to be an impulsive 'all-in' action, but rather a meticulously calculated programmatic strategy driving it: he knows that his liquidation price is exposed to the market, so he must set the stage in advance, making it as difficult as possible for others to hit that price.
And we can now see some clues about this situation on the order book.
According to AiCoin data, as of June 13 at 11:00, on the order book within the range of $104,132 to $106,106, the selling pressure is 2.4 times the buying strength, forming a clear downward structure.
This market structure is very similar to 'drawing lines and arranging formations':
Whales are placing a large number of short orders above, creating a selling pressure atmosphere and suppressing market expectations.
They are also placing a small number of buy orders, disguising support levels or inducing bullish signals, creating a price anchoring effect.
If building a position is his bet, then the order book is him 'showing his chips'. This move is not just for making money, but more to send a stance to the market: I'm shorting here, do you dare to liquidate me? Of course, while the short defense line is drawn perfectly, it must confront an ultimate question: does the market want to respond? And the answer to this question is often found in the technical chart—because price patterns are always a reflection of traders' psychology.
Technical analysis: The liquidation line is not just a risk line but also an inducement line.
At $110,826, it superficially appears to be the liquidation point for the whale's $115 million short position, but in reality, it has almost become the polar magnet for the entire market—bulls' sniper target and shorts' last line of defense.
From the K-line structure, this position is stuck above the double top resistance level, while also approaching the Fibonacci 78.6% retracement level, forming a typical 'structural resistance zone'. Over the past two weeks, BTC has attempted to break through multiple times without success, indicating that a large number of stop-loss and unclosed chips have accumulated in this range. Because of this, it possesses a strong 'explosive property': once broken, it will trigger a chain reaction of short covering and FOMO buying.
RSI: Although the RSI has not yet entered the overbought zone, it is already showing a bullish arrangement. Once the price starts to reverse and the RSI breaks through the key threshold, it could trigger the entry of trend trading and chasing up orders. For bulls, this is the ideal sniper logic: 'Use liquidation as fuel, and detonate the upward momentum with the liquidation point.'
AiCoin's main order data shows that the current buying order volume is significantly higher than selling orders. At the same time, from the chip distribution perspective, the buying power structurally dominates, indicating a strong willingness to support the market bottom.
Therefore, this is not just a risk control red line for a specific whale, but a strategic high ground that the entire market 'sees'. Bulls know: breaking through here means not just lifting the market, but passive buying from liquidating $115 million plus panicked short sellers fleeing plus trend positions entering, the combined forces may accelerate the market.
Behind the liquidation battle: This is not an ordinary market, but a carefully arranged battlefield.
On the technical price level, the $110,826 liquidation line has already become a polar magnet for the tug of war between bulls and bears; but if we look one level deeper, we will find that this tug-of-war is not only happening between K-lines and order books, but also on the battlefield constructed by trading platform mechanisms.
Why did the whale choose to open such an extreme position on Hyperliquid? The answer lies in the platform rules.
Hyperliquid, as a decentralized perpetual contract platform that has risen sharply in the past year, is changing the game through its 'rules':
Higher leverage: BTC supports up to 40x leverage, far exceeding Binance's 20x, meaning that a 3% price fluctuation could liquidate the whale's position. This means that a '100 million dollar short position' only needs a $3,000 price fluctuation to potentially become a detonator.
On-chain liquidation + off-chain matching: This improves efficiency but may also amplify liquidation slippage. On March 12, one whale withdrew funds to raise the liquidation price, causing HLP's treasury to lose $4 million, which is a side effect of this mechanism.
No ADL mechanism + transparent liquidation: There is no automatic position reduction, and liquidations are entirely executed by the system. Whales can 'set up' orders near the liquidation line, using hypurrscan.io for precise operations. However, the lack of profit-taking/stop-loss order books significantly amplifies slippage risks.
HLP treasury endorsement but not unlimited support: The current treasury balance is $351 million, but facing the potentially liquidated $115 million position, liquidity pressure under extreme conditions will also trigger concerns about price stability.
In short, this is a 'constructible' battle scenario: whales use platform mechanisms to shape chip structures and risk exposures, while traders need to find safe boundaries and opportunity windows under these game rules.
Conclusion
In the short term, the tactical value of the liquidation line has surpassed that of a single position. $110,826 is not only the risk line for the $115 million short position but also the market sentiment's critical point: the current price is less than 3% away from it, with funding rates leaning towards the long side (Hyperliquid's June 13 BTC perpetual is +0.015%), and the dynamics of large orders reveal signs of a selling wall collapsing. Once liquidation triggers, it may create a combination of forced liquidation pushing prices up + FOMO chasing orders + trend entries, opening a short-term acceleration window for BTC. Looking long-term, this event reflects a new risk and strategy logic in the era of DEX. This short position has become a 'totem' for Bitcoin's short-term market.
If the market chooses to hesitate, the main selling wall remains solid, RSI continues to consolidate, and MACD death crosses do not break, the whale may remain in a position of advantage, even using rebounds to push back to $105,000; but if the bulls unite and break through the liquidation price, triggering liquidations, with technical indicators (like MACD golden crosses, OBV increasing) coordinating together, then the chain reaction brought by liquidations will become the 'fuel pack' for the short-term market, with target ranges possibly aiming directly above $112,000.
This is a tug-of-war around a liquidation line, representing a new type of game mechanism in the era of high leverage.
We do not necessarily have to bet, but we must see clearly—every time a whale is liquidated, the market is re-labeling: where is the limit?
