Crypto Whale Loses $35M in 90 Minutes Amid Market Volatility
January 20 trading data shows the whale profited nearly $900K from closing SOL shorts, but significant leveraged losses underscore crypto market risks.
On January 20, a whale known for high-frequency trading closed two SOL short positions within 30 minutes, totaling 17,841.27 SOL worth $2.369 million in value. The trades yielded $889,000 profit with a return exceeding 106%, and reduced the remaining SOL short exposure to $4.008 million. This followed earlier activity, as recorded by HyperInsight, when the same whale closed a 1,004 ETH short position for $32,000 profit but still carried a floating $119,000 loss. Previous trades included substantial losses from Bitcoin and ETH price drops, plus $7.94 million in cumulative funding fees, highlighting the high-risk nature of heavy leverage use in volatile markets.
- Funding Fees: Periodic payments made between traders in perpetual futures to keep contract prices aligned with the spot market.
- Unrealized Gains: Profits or losses on investments that have not yet been sold, and therefore not yet realized as cash.
- Leveraged Position: An investment strategy using borrowed funds to increase potential returns, which also magnifies potential losses.