You’d expect a face-ripping rally to flush out the shorts. Not this one. Wallet 0xd475...51A91, reportedly the largest ZEC short on Hyperliquid, is still in the fight — and adding fuel.
Here’s the picture:
ZEC ripped past $750, more than doubling off lows.
The whale hasn’t been liquidated; instead, they’ve topped up margin aggressively.
Fresh collateral: about $36.81M in the last 24 hours, including a 4M USDC injection ~7 hours ago.
Position size: roughly $31.5M notional short (≈52,370.45 ZEC).
P/L: unrealized loss near $15.5M (down from a >$20M draw), average entry around $305.91.
Liquidation level sits near $1,308 — still a distance away if they keep padding collateral.
What it means:
This is a classic high-stakes squeeze. Negative funding and crowded shorts can keep the pressure on, but deep pockets can also delay the inevitable by widening liquidation bands.
Each margin add stretches the pain timeline and tempts late shorts to pile in — exactly the kind of reflexive loop that fuels oversized moves in both directions.
If spot demand fades and funding normalizes, a sharp mean reversion can unwind late longs fast. If momentum persists, the whale becomes ongoing squeeze fuel.
What to watch next:
Funding/oi dynamics: a flip toward neutral funding plus OI roll-off on red candles favors an unwind; persistently negative funding with rising OI supports the squeeze.
Spot vs perp leadership: spot-led pushes are healthier; perp-led spikes are more fragile.
Whale behavior: more collateral top-ups or partial covers around key levels will telegraph their pain tolerance.
Bottom line: This isn’t a morality play — it’s a stamina contest between a determined short and an aggressive squeeze. Until structure stabilizes, treat it as a traders’ arena, not an investment thesis.