How One Crypto Whale Made $36 Million Amid a Market Crash

The cryptocurrency market faced heavy turbulence over the past 24 hours, with total market capitalization falling by 4%. The downturn led to more than $1.3 billion in liquidations, primarily from long positions.

While most suffered steep losses, one trader’s short bets have paid off. The whale is now sitting on over $36 million in unrealized gains.

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Crypto Liquidations Exceed $1 Billion as Market Slides

The cryptocurrency market took a significant hit in October, exacerbated by the tariff-driven crash. And even though the “red October” is over, November has begun on an equally grim note, showing little sign of recovery so far.

BeInCrypto Markets data showed that the total market cap has declined by 4% over the past 24 hours. Among the top 10 coins, Solana (SOL) experienced the largest loss, at 9.28%.

Moreover, Bitcoin (BTC) fell to $103,687, representing a 3.52% drop over the past day. Ethereum (ETH) faced a steeper decline. The altcoin slipped 6.13% to trade at $3,482.

The market dip triggered massive liquidations. According to data from Coinglass, 336,622 traders were liquidated in the past 24 hours. Altogether, $1.37 billion worth of leveraged positions were wiped out.

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Notably, $1.22 billion came from long positions (traders who were betting prices would go up). HTX exchange recorded the biggest single liquidation, closing a Bitcoin-USDT position worth $47.87 million.

Bitcoin led the wipeout with $406.94 million in liquidations, while Ethereum followed closely behind with $356.34 million cleared. The liquidations also affected other assets, including Solana, XRP (XRP), Dogecoin (DOGE), Chainlink (LINK), Hyperliquid (HYPE), and others.

“Months of boredom, 3 days of euphoria, biggest liquidation event in history, sideways misery, depression and more pain. Crypto is basically an abusive relationship we keep going back to,” analyst Quinten Francois stated.

Whale Secures Millions by Shorting Crypto

Despite the market-wide losses, one whale managed to turn the chaos into profit. Lookonchain identified an “Anti-CZ Whale” who has been shorting cryptocurrencies on Hyperliquid, a decentralized derivatives platform.

As prices plunged, the trader’s multiple short positions on ASTER, DOGE, ETH, XRP, and PEPE across two wallets moved deep into profit, with unrealized gains surpassing $36 million.

“His total profit on Hyperliquid is now close to $100 million” Lookonchain added.

Data from HyperDash indicates that the whale has achieved a 100% win rate across both wallets. This is not the first time the trader has accurately timed market movements. During the early October market downturn, he reportedly earned more than $18.5 million from short positions.

The contrast between whale gains and broad retail losses shows the risk of leveraged crypto trading. As the industry matures, frequent high-value liquidations continue to challenge individuals. Whether the market stabilizes after early November remains uncertain, but this recent episode is a clear reminder of crypto’s unmatched volatility.