TL;DR:
Three renowned institutional trading firms maintain open short positions valued at over $600 million against Bitcoin and Ethereum this Monday, according to on-chain reports.
The decentralized derivatives platform Hyperliquid recorded a significant open interest volume in bearish positions, even as major digital asset prices experienced rallies over the past 24 hours. On-chain records disclosed by Lookonchain place Abraxas Capital, Fasanara Capital, and Wintermute as the primary institutional holders of these positions.
It seems that all the big whales have been liquidated in this price surge!
Currently, the largest short positions on the blockchain are held by market makers' hedging accounts.
Abraxas Capital, Fasanara Capital, and Wintertermute collectively hold short positions of 138,569… pic.twitter.com/0CtuNkWHbI
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) August 24, 2026
The aggregate downside exposure comprises 138,569 ETH, equivalent to around $338 million, and 3,425 BTC, valued at $265 million at the time of measurement. Data from Lookonchain suggests that the recent liquidation of large individual accounts left these entities as the largest visible short holders on the network.
Abraxas Capital holds the largest volume of unrealized losses within the analyzed group, with a negative unrealized balance of $58 million. Transaction records show that its short contracts for Ethereum were opened in ranges close to $2,064 and $2,111, while its Bitcoin entries were situated between $65,312 and $67,026.
Fasanara Capital reported a negative unrealized balance of $16.6 million distributed across two main positions. Technical market price action pushed valuations above its initial entry points over the past week.
Wintermute presents a different operational profile within the same dataset. Its short positions were opened at levels of $2,447 for ETH and $77,665 for BTC, placing its contracts near breakeven margins or with slight operational gains at the time of the report.
Liquidation and trigger prices calculated for these institutional orders sit far from current market rates. Lookonchain’s analysis indicates that trigger levels for Ethereum range between $3,946 and $4,988, while technical thresholds for the benchmark cryptocurrency extend between $128,521 and $251,307.
Short orders do not necessarily reflect a purely bearish market stance. Wallet movement data indicates that Abraxas Capital structured a hedging strategy through simultaneous spot market purchases.
The entity withdrew 73,872 ETH from Binance, valued at $173.17 million, across four consecutive days. Infrastructure analysis suggests that this framework aims to capture yields from positive perpetual funding rates while neutralizing directional exposure with physical assets held in custody.
The Hyperliquid protocol generated more than $6 million in daily fees during the reporting period, coinciding with the all-time high reached by its native token HYPE at $83.27. Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) tied to the asset reached $360.39 million in net assets at the close of the last business week, according to figures compiled by SoSoValue.
Monitoring of these positions will continue as weekly contract settlements approach and margin balances update across the platform’s smart contracts.
