An investor who shorted Ethereum ETH/USD with massive leverage is now sitting on tens of millions in unrealized profit as the market plunged following President Donald Trump’s tariff announcement.
What Happened: The trader took a 50x leverage bet on ETH’s decline on Monday, according to on-chain tracker Lookonchain.
As the second-largest cryptocurrency fell after Trump confirmed plans to impose tariffs on key trade partners like Canada, Mexico, and China, the trader’s unrealized gains rocketed up to a whopping $81 million. As of this writing, the trader had already begun closing part of the short positions to secure profits.
Interestingly, this development follows a 50x long trade by a whale on Bitcoin BTC/USD and Ethereum, turning a $4 million investment into a $200 million position. The trader closed their position shortly before Trump announced a cryptocurrency reserve, resulting in a profit of over $6 million.
See Also: Bitcoin Is Digital Gold But ‘What’s The Rationale For An XRP Reserve’, Asks Peter Schiff: Cardano Founder Charles Hoskinson Says Trump Made The Right Decision
Benzinga Note: Leverage trading allows cryptocurrency traders to open larger positions using borrowed capital. While it can potentially amplify profits, it also significantly increases the risk of substantial losses due to the volatile nature of the cryptocurrencies.
Why It Matters: The timing of these trades has sparked speculation of possible insider trading. Panos, an X user, wondered if the long-leveraged trade before the cryptocurrency reserve-fueled rally and the bearish bets before the tariff-induced dump were coincidental or deliberate.
Earlier in the day, renowned economist Peter Schiff sought investigation into Trump’s cryptocurrency announcements, with details on how much those with "advance notice" spent on the cryptocurrencies included in the reserve, as well as how much profit they made selling them.
Notably, on-chain sleuth and Coinbase executive Conor Grogan found out that the trader related to the 50x long leverage trade was a casino gambler, known for executive high-leveraged trades, and not someone privy to insider info.
Price Action: At the time of writing, Ethereum was exchanging hands at $2,077.37, down 12.81% in the last 24 hours, according to data from Benzinga Pro.
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