Hyperliquid Whale Earns $1.8 Million Amid Volatility Over FED's Interest Rate Decision

A high-risk cryptocurrency trader, known as the "Hyperliquid 50x Whale", executed a series of rapid trades around the Federal Reserve's interest rate announcement, turning 690,000 USDC into approximately 1.83 million USDC—a profit of 164%—within three hours. The story gets even more interesting as this is the whale that recently shook the Hyperliquid exchange. Hyperliquid's 50x Whale Active Trading Strategy According to blockchain analyst @EmberCN, Hyperliquid 50x Whale's activity began before the Fed's announcement. At 11:00 a.m. U.S. Eastern Time, they opened a short position of 326 Bitcoin (BTC) at $84,566, worth $27.6 million. Just before the interest rate decision at 12:48 p.m., they closed the position at $83,927, securing a profit of $215,000. Immediately after the announcement at 1:01 PM, the trader shorted 256 BTC at a price of 84,404 USD (21.6 million USD ) and closed the position six minutes later at 83,906 USD, adding another 250,000 USD in profit. At 1:10 PM, the whale reversed strategy, opening a buy position of 518 BTC at a price of 84,500 USD (43.8 million USD ), and then closed at 85,700 USD at 1:59 PM to secure a profit of 620,000 USD. Finally, at 2:00 PM, the trader shorted 384 BTC at a price of $85,666 (32.9 million dollars) and exited two minutes later at $85,146, making an additional $106,000. At the time of writing, the price of BTC is fluctuating around $85,800 to $86,200.

Federal Reserve Interest Rate Decision and Market Impact The Federal Reserve kept the benchmark interest rate unchanged at 4.50%, as expected. The dot plot signals the possibility of a 50 basis point rate cut in 2025. Additionally, the Fed will slow down the process of reducing the balance sheet starting in April, lowering the monthly Treasury bill repurchase cap from $25 billion to $5 billion, while maintaining the agency and mortgage-backed securities cap at $35 billion. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell noted that inflation may temporarily rise due to upcoming tariffs, with expectations currently at 2.7% for 2024, up from 2.5% in January. Eleven of the 19 members of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) predict there will be at least two interest rate cuts this year, down from 15 in December. Speculations About the Identity of the Hyperliquid 50x Whale The mysterious trader has attracted significant attention for making large leveraged trades on platforms like Hyperliquid and GMX. This wallet has taken high-risk bets on Bitcoin, Ethereum (ETH), and Chainlink (LINK), sparking speculation about their identity. Several theories have linked this account to the North Korean hacker group Lazarus, but blockchain investigator ZachXBT has dismissed these claims. However, there are allegations that the trader is using stolen funds for leveraged trades, suggesting that the criminals may be employing high-risk strategies to amplify illegal profits.

The analysis company Lookonchain reported that the Hyperliquid 50x Whale has accumulated $9.46 million in profit in just eight days. However, the trader's actions have also caused market disruption. At one point, Hyperliquid's liquidity pool suffered a loss of $4 million due to a major liquidation event.