TL;DR:
- On October 27, the analytics firm Glassnode reported that the large accounts tracked on Hyperliquid shifted from a net buying posture to a net selling posture.
- The platform’s liquidation analysis located the two largest order clusters above the market at the $85,000 and $87,000 levels.
- The decentralized protocol settles its funding rate hourly with a base interest component of 0.00125% per hour.
During the final weeks of October, Bitcoin whales on Hyperliquid recorded a shift toward a net short stance, marking the first time they have entered this position since March 2026.
Hyperliquid whales are net short bitcoin:native for the first time since March.
This group managed to long the bottom, but the positioning flipped last week.
The question is whether they are early to a deeper pullback, or about to be squeezed if price turns higher. pic.twitter.com/QAQ1yP40Em
— glassnode (@glassnode) October 27, 2026
According to a report published by Glassnode on October 27, 2026, the high-volume traders it monitors on the decentralized exchange held long positions throughout Bitcoin’s previous bottom before reversing their activity toward the sell side, while the asset traded near the $80,000 mark.
The on-chain analytics firm noted that this setup leaves two potential dynamics open in the derivatives market: traders could be anticipating a deeper correction, or they could face losses if a rebound triggers a forced short squeeze.
Glassnode described the group’s prior long entry as a trade executed with timely precision. The firm refrained from characterizing the current bearish positioning as an irrevocable confirmation of price drops.
In its technical report titled “Swept and Refilled,” released on October 21, Glassnode pinpointed two main liquidation zones modeled near $85,000 and $87,000. This estimate followed the absorption of an order cluster around $80,000 on October 15.
Model data suggests that a forced closure of short contracts could accelerate an upward move toward the $87,000 band. Concurrently, the report noted the presence of a spot market sell order block situated between $86,500 and $87,500.
At the lower end of the order book, Glassnode’s heatmap maintained a liquidation band near $79,600. The same assessment estimated the average cost basis of coins held by 6- to 12-month investors near $86,700.
The True Market Mean metric, used by the firm to estimate the average cost basis of active market participants, stood at approximately $77,600 on that cutoff date.
Technical Funding Dynamics and Institutional Derivatives Flow
Official documentation from Hyperliquid outlines that the funding mechanism involves periodic payments transferred between long and short positions within its perpetual contracts. The protocol states that this mechanism aims to align the perpetual trading price with the underlying spot market quotation.
Protocol rules determine that, under a positive rate, long positions pay short positions. If the rate turns negative, short positions transfer funds to long positions.
Unlike traditional platforms that assess charges every eight hours, Hyperliquid settles funding rates at the close of every hour. The platform applies a fixed interest rate equivalent to 0.00125% per hour (0.01% on an 8-hour basis), plus a premium that fluctuates according to the spread between the perpetual price and the spot oracle.
To determine this premium, network validators sample prices every five seconds and calculate an hourly volume-weighted average price based on liquidity available across benchmark centralized exchanges.
Regarding institutional wallet transfers, monitoring platform Lookonchain recorded the withdrawal of 9,458 BTC from market maker Wintermute to 40 newly created addresses between October 1 and the end of the month, totaling a transfer value of $771.5 million. Lookonchain classified these transactions as an accumulation pattern, without identifying the ultimate holders or specific entry valuations.
An earlier record published in September by Onchain Lens attributed an accumulated short position of $126.25 million on Hyperliquid to an address linked to Wintermute. That total included $46.92 million in Ethereum contracts, $11.30 million in Solana, and $10.03 million in the HYPE token.
Wintermute made no public statements regarding the ownership of that address. Perpetual contract usage by market makers typically serves to hedge spot inventory, derivatives, or cross-exchange trades.
Regarding spot demand conditions, Bitget Wallet Head of Research Lacie Zhang identified in an October 1 analysis a support band at $82,000 and a recovery trigger at $87,500, noting that a sustained drop below $80,000 would invalidate the technical structure anticipated for the month.
The United States macroeconomic calendar schedules the Federal Reserve’s next monetary policy decision for October 28, followed by the Q3 GDP report and the personal income index on October 29 at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time.
