What to Know:
- The “Anti-CZ Whale” earned $21M from shorting ASTER and nearly $100M overall on Hyperliquid.
- ASTER dropped over 22% after CZ’s buy post as whales sold millions in tokens.
- Broader market weakness and fear index lows deepened altcoin losses this week.
A big trader known as the “Anti-CZ Whale” is making waves. According to on-chain data, this whale has amassed almost $100 million in unrealised profits through short positions on Hyperliquid. A large portion of that gain comes from a bet on the token ASTER, which is backed by CZ.
The ASTER Short
Shortly after CZ publicly signalled a purchase of ASTER, this whale increased their short positions on the token. Rather than following the hype, the whale instead bet on ASTER’s price falling. As the price slid, the whale’s two wallets reportedly realised over $21 million in floating profits from that one trade.
For context: ASTER had previously enjoyed a strong launch after CZ’s endorsement and a major listing push. But the tide turned; ASTER saw a pullback and was vulnerable to this divergence in sentiment.
ASTER is only part of the story. The same whale holds short positions on other major chains and tokens including DOGE (Dogecoin), ETH (Ethereum), XRP and PEPE, all of which are reportedly in profit.
When you tally up all these trades, the total unrealised gains on Hyperliquid for this whale are edging toward or are already at the $100 million mark.
Why did This Happen?
Several factors likely came together:
- Hype vs contrarian trades: CZ’s bullish post on ASTER appears to have attracted buying interest — but the whale went the opposite direction, shorting the momentum. The timing appears to have worked.
- Price weakness in ASTER: After a frothy launch and big gains, ASTER pulled back sharply. That set the stage for profitable shorts.
- Market-wide risk off: With uncertainty in macro markets and altcoins under pressure, high-beta tokens like ASTER are more exposed to downside.
- Technical sell-offs & liquidations: Once support breaks, leveraged plays and shorters gain more chances.
Aster Price Action
The price of ASTER has been all over the place. When CZ announced in public that he was going to buy ASTER, the token shot up almost 27% on November 2. But soon after, on-chain data showed that big holders were selling millions of tokens to make money while retail investors were still buying. This heavy selling made the price go up quickly but in the last 24 hours, it went down by about 22%. At the time this was written, ASTER was worth about $0.8467.
The coordinated sell-off left a lot of small traders stuck in losses, but short-sellers made a lot of money. Market data showed a sudden rise in open interest, which means that traders took on more leveraged positions because they thought prices would go up. But when prices fell, forced liquidations and panic selling pushed ASTER below important support levels at $0.92, which set the stage for more drops.
After the Fed said that rates might stay high even after a 0.25% cut, the overall crypto markets fell 4%. Bitcoin fell to $107.8K, which caused altcoins like ASTER to fall as well. ASTER’s high beta (901% gain over 60 days) made it easy for people to feel risk-off. The Fear & Greed Index dropped to 27, which is “Extreme Fear,” making people less interested in buying speculative altcoins.
Final Thoughts
Anti-CZ Whale’s results are hard to ignore: tens of millions in profit from ASTER alone and nearly $100 million across their portfolio of short trades. Whether this trend continues remains to be seen leveraged shorting carries big risk but for now one of crypto’s biggest contrarian trades is winning loud and clear.
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