The whale who made heads turn with their overleveraged short bet on Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) has now opened a position worth $517 million, its highest ever.

What Happened: The investor placed its largest short ever on Bitcoin, amounting to 6,211 BTC, worth nearly $517 million, according to on-chain tracker Spot On Chain.

The position was opened at an entry price of $83,898 on decentralized perpetual trading platform Hyperliquid, and the trader was sitting on an unrealized profit of $5.95 million as of this writing. Should Bitcoin hit $85,557, which is just 2.9% away from the current price, the entire position will be wiped out.

The high-risk strategy attracted reactions from the cryptocurrency community.

Widely followed market commentator That Martini Guy ₿ argued that the whale is aware that its trades and liquidation price are visible and that people would buy BTC to liquidate it.

“I would expect he has a much larger long position on the exchanges that you can’t see,” the analyst added. “Whales aren't dumb.”

Why It Matters: This high-stakes gamble comes even as Bitcoin rose to an intraday high of $84,700 Monday before retreating to the $83,000 zone due to profit-taking.

About $182 million was liquidated from the cryptocurrency market in the last 24 hours, with short positions accounting for more than 50%, according to Coinglass.

Given these trends, the whale’s record short position is a bold move that could have significant implications for the cryptocurrency market.

Price Action: At the time of writing, Bitcoin was exchanging hands at $83,085.48, down 0.59% in the last 24 hours, according to data from Benzinga Pro.

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.

Image via Shutterstock

Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.