Crypto whale liquidated for $308M in leveraged Ether trade

A large cryptocurrency trader, known as a whale, lost more than $308 million on a leveraged Ether position, underscoring the risks of leveraged trading during volatile market conditions.

The unknown crypto trader was liquidated on their 50x leveraged long position for over 160,234 Ether (ETH), worth more than $308 million at the time of writing, Hypurrscan data shows.

Leveraged positions use borrowed money to increase the size of an investment, which can boost the size of both gains and losses, making leveraged trading riskier compared to regular investment positions.

The crypto trader’s address showing transactions. Source: Hypurrscan 

The crypto whale opened the initial 50x leveraged position when ETH traded at $1,900, with a liquidation price of $1,877.

Source: Lookonchain 

According to onchain intelligence firm Lookonchain, the whale had rotated all of his Bitcoin (BTC) holdings into the leveraged Ether trade before suffering the liquidation.

The liquidation came during a period of heightened volatility, as both crypto and traditional markets are limited by global trade war concerns due to the latest retaliatory tariffs from the European Union. 

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Ether’s price has fallen by more than 53% since it began its downtrend on Dec. 16, 2024, after it had peaked above $4,100.

ETH/USD, 1-day chart, downtrend. Source: Cointelegraph/ TradingView 

The main reasons behind Ether’s downtrend are the ongoing macroeconomic concerns and lack of builder activity on the Ethereum network, according to Bitfinex analysts.

“A lack of new projects or builders moving to ETH, primarily due to high operating fees, is likely the principal reason behind the lackluster performance of ETH. [...] We believe that for ETH, $1,800 will be a strong level to watch,” the analysts told Cointelegraph.

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“However, the current sell-off is not being seen solely in ETH, we have seen a marketwide correction as fears over the impact of tariffs hit all risk assets,” they added.

The US spot Ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are also limiting Ether’s upside.

Total spot Ether ETF net inflow. Source: Sosovalue

US spot Ether ETFs have entered a fourth consecutive week of net negative outflows, after seeing over $119 million worth of cumulative outflows during the previous week, Sosovalue data shows.

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