One Hyperliquid wallet bought 5.76 million NEAR at $2.35 back in September and now sits on roughly $20.55 million in unrealized profit, with NEAR around $5.82. The same wallet is also running about $14.7 million in shorts against BTC, ETH, SOL, XRP, BNB, ADA and AVAX. Classic move: ride the pump, then short everything else just in case. They call it hedging. I call it having the exit already planned.
▪️ Onchain analysts spotted the long once it crossed $20M in floating profit, right after NEAR ripped more than 145% in a month. Nobody sends a bat signal for the guy who got in early.
▪️ Timing did the heavy lifting. Bitwise's NRR, the first U.S. spot NEAR ETF, launched Sept. 29 and pulled in nearly $58M in its first week. Smart money bought the ETF headline, retail bought the chart.
▪️ Usage backed the story: NEAR Intents logged $1.84B of volume through September, with cumulative volume estimated at $31-33B across 30+ chains.
▪️ Supply got tighter. A late-2025 governance change cut max annual inflation from about 5% to roughly 2.5%, and a proposal would push it toward 1.6%. Less printing, more pumping, same old song.
▪️ The shorts are bleeding: about $1.33M underwater, AVAX down ~$623K, ADA ~$327K, SOL ~$207K. The BTC short was opened at $79,550, so every grind toward $84K is paying the house.
▪️ Risk math: 10x leverage on a $34M position means a 10% NEAR pullback erases about $3.4M in one candle. Liquidation sits near $1.33, roughly 77% below current price. Sleep well, hero.
Retail is the crowd buying the chart after a 145% monthly run, while this whale got in before the ETF headlines. Their long is safe until NEAR dumps hard, but the shorts keep leaking money every time BTC grinds higher. Watch whether ETF inflows hold: analysts warn NEAR's RSI has already pushed into the 70-80 overbought zone, and ETF money leaves as fast as it arrives.
🔮 Who is really hedged here: the whale, or everyone chasing NEAR at $5.82?
@tontiger_fam
