A cryptocurrency wallet attributed to market maker Wintermute carried approximately $190.77 million in short positions on Hyperliquid on Aug. 24, according to a snapshot published by blockchain analytics account Onchain Lens.
Summary
- Wallet data showed $190.77 million in shorts across Hyperliquid when Onchain Lens captured its snapshot.
- Ethereum led the reported short book at $53.02 million, followed by Bitcoin and Solana positions.
- The XRP short totaled $10.19 million, representing roughly 0.28% of reported XRP open interest market.
- XRP traded near $1.47 after gaining approximately 47% over seven days amid elevated derivatives leverage.
- Wallet attribution comes from third-party labels, while Wintermute has not publicly confirmed these positions directly.
The reported exposure included a $10.19 million XRP short, making XRP the fifth-largest bearish position in the account at the time. The wallet’s overall short exposure had increased by approximately $44.58 million from an earlier $146.19 million snapshot.
The positions are verifiable through public derivatives data, but their attribution to Wintermute relies on third-party wallet labels and transaction analysis. Wintermute has not publicly confirmed that it controlled the wallet or disclosed the purpose of the positions.
Wintermute-linked shorts reached $190.77 million
Ethereum represented the wallet’s largest short position at $53.02 million. Bitcoin followed at $30.66 million, while Solana accounted for $22.62 million.
The account also held an $11.43 million HYPE short and the $10.19 million XRP position. Onchain Lens reported a combined unrealized loss of approximately $5.85 million when it captured the figures.
An earlier snapshot showed $160.03 million in total open positions, comprising $146.19 million in shorts and $13.85 million in longs. The account had earned approximately $2.14 million in funding while carrying an unrealized loss of $3.66 million.
Onchain Lens also reported lifetime profits of $203.55 million for the address. Historical profitability does not establish that the current positions will succeed, especially because perpetual contract values and liquidation levels move continuously.
XRP short follows a 47% weekly price rally
XRP traded near $1.47 on Aug. 24 after gaining approximately 47% over seven days. The crypto moved between $1.46 and $1.54 over the latest 24-hour period, with trading volume near $4.85 billion.
As previously reported, Treasury buybacks and marketwide liquidations helped XRP gain 47%. The rally also coincided with rising leverage on major derivatives exchanges.
The $10.19 million short represented approximately 0.28% of the $3.61 billion in XRP open interest cited at the time. It was therefore large for one publicly tracked account but small relative to the broader derivatives market.
Reported Binance and OKX positioning leaned toward long exposure. Binance’s general account long-to-short ratio stood near 2.57, while the equivalent OKX ratio was approximately 2.08. Those readings count accounts rather than the dollar value of positions, so they do not provide a complete measure of market direction.
Around $21.42 million in XRP derivatives positions were liquidated during the preceding 24 hours. Long liquidations accounted for approximately $12.47 million, compared with $8.95 million from shorts.
A short position does not confirm a bearish forecast
A large short position can represent a directional bet that prices will fall. However, market makers also use perpetual futures to hedge spot inventory, options exposure, client transactions and positions held on other exchanges.
Wintermute operates across centralized and decentralized venues. The firm could therefore hold offsetting spot, futures or options exposure that is not visible through this single Hyperliquid address.
Transfers to Binance also do not prove that assets were sold. Exchange deposits may precede selling, but they can also support collateral management, market making, internal transfers or settlement.
The wallet attribution requires similar caution. Public researchers and an independent analytical repository have connected the address to Wintermute’s Hyperliquid activity, but that identification is not equivalent to a company statement.
What happens next for XRP and the tracked wallet?
The first test for XRP is whether it can hold the $1.44 to $1.46 region after its weekly surge. Resistance remains around the recent $1.54 high, followed by the psychological $1.60 level.
A move above those levels could increase losses for uncovered short positions. A decline below recent support could instead benefit bearish exposure and place additional pressure on heavily leveraged longs.
The wallet also requires continued monitoring because its positions can change quickly. At retrieval, a HypurrScan explorer page no longer displayed an active perpetual position value.
This could mean the positions changed after Onchain Lens captured its snapshot, or that the explorer did not expose the relevant account structure. The $190.77 million figure should therefore be treated as a timestamped observation rather than the wallet’s guaranteed current exposure.
