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Ethereum ICO whale rotates from leveraged ETH trades into HYPE and ZEC longs

Ethereum ICO whale rotates from leveraged ETH trades into HYPE and ZEC longs

Fresh onchain data also showed Hyperliquid’s biggest ETH short trimming a 60,000 ETH bearish bet as Ether climbed, after unrealized profit fell by $5.9 million over the past week.

ETH
USDT
USDC

Fact Check
The core claim is directly supported by the primary on-chain analytics source (Onchain Lens), which precisely matches the headline figures: $5.5M USDC deposit, 120,000 HYPE (10x) long, 6,193 ZEC (3x) long, and a closed ETH long with $396K profit. PANews republished these exact figures. Critically, the Hyperliquid explorer HypurrScan independently confirms the address's 120K HYPE position, ZEC/ETH TWAP buys, and the $5.5M USDC transfer, providing on-chain verification. The 'Ethereum ICO whale' and Aave/Spark ETH leverage framing is corroborated by analyst EmberCN coverage. The only minor uncertainty is whether the HYPE/ZEC trader is definitively the same Aave/Spark ETH ICO whale, since these are reported by different analysts; however all reported specifics are consistent and on-chain verified, supporting a high-confidence likely_true assessment.
Summary

An active Ethereum ICO whale has been rapidly shifting leveraged exposure across venues and assets. Earlier reports described the trader using Aave and Spark to build both bearish and bullish-style ETH positions, including cumulative borrowing that reached 44,389 ETH after another 19,000 ETH, worth about $33.48 million, was borrowed from Aave and sold. Separate reports said the whale later borrowed 10 million USDe to buy 5,817 ETH at $1,719, then closed an ETH long for a $396,000 profit, deposited 5.5 million USDC into HyperLiquid, and opened a 10x long on 120,000 HYPE and a 3x long on 6,193 ZEC. New data from Hyperinsight on June 16 showed Hyperliquid’s largest ETH short, "pension-usdt.eth," beginning to take profit for the first time in the prior half hour after Ether’s rise cut unrealized profit by $5.9 million over the past week. The address had previously shorted 60,000 ETH with 3x leverage at an average entry price of $1,810, for a position valued at about $107 million, and had closed about 2,135 ETH by publication while retaining $1.24 million in unrealized profit on the remaining short.

Terms & Concepts
  • Aave: A decentralized lending protocol for borrowing and lending crypto assets.
  • HyperLiquid: An onchain derivatives trading venue used for leveraged crypto positions.
  • liquidation price: The price level at which collateral may be forcibly sold to cover borrowed assets.