A high-stakes drama unfolded in the crypto market as a major investor placed an enormous short position against Bitcoin while simultaneously backing former First Lady’s token.

In a stunning display of market contrarianism, a crypto whale has established a massive $445 million short position on Bitcoin using 40x leverage on Hyperliquid, even as BTC stabilized above the $84,000 mark. What makes this bearish stance particularly intriguing is the same investor’s bullish position on the MELANIA token, creating a fascinating market narrative that caught the community’s attention.

The enormous short position quickly became the talk of crypto Twitter, with trader CBB attempting to rally fellow investors for a coordinated effort to liquidate the whale’s position. According to blockchain analytics firm Lookonchain, “11 hours ago, @Cbb0fe publicly formed a team to hunt this whale who shorted $BTC with 40x leverage. Just one hour later, the team was in action, driving $BTC above $84,690 in a short period.”

This whale still managed to turn a profit despite being hunted by a team!

11 hours ago, @Cbb0fe publicly formed a team to hunt this whale who shorted $BTC with 40x leverage.

Just one hour later, the team was in action, driving $BTC above $84,690 in a short period.

The whale… pic.twitter.com/D6FBOFikZR

— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) March 17, 2025

Despite the community’s coordinated push, the liquidation attempt ultimately failed. The whale responded by depositing an additional $5 million USDC to increase their margin and avoid being liquidated at the $86,000 price point.

Beyond the Bitcoin short, the investor has taken a 5x leveraged long position on MELANIA, a memecoin reportedly marketed by MKT World LLC, a Florida-registered company owned by Melania Trump, wife of current U.S. President Donald Trump.

Hyperliquid celebrated the transparency of their platform throughout this market drama, posting on X: “When a whale shorts $450M+ BTC and wants a public audience, it’s only possible on Hyperliquid. When headlines say ‘Bitcoin Market on Edge,’ they are equating ‘Hyperliquid’ with the ‘market.’ Anyone can photoshop a PNL screenshot. No one can question a Hyperliquid position, just like no one can question a Bitcoin balance. The decentralized future is here.”

This incident follows another notable event on Hyperliquid last week, where an influential trader executed a “liquidation arbitrage” by extracting floating profits, creating a margin shortage that transferred risk to the decentralized exchange’s HLP vault.

As Bitcoin continues to hover near its 200-day average, market participants are closely watching whether this whale’s enormous bet against Bitcoin will pay off or if community pressure might eventually force liquidation of the position.