Crypto Whale Opens $14.3M XMR Long on Hyperliquid

A crypto whale has opened a $14.3 million leveraged long position on Monero (XMR) through the Hyperliquid trading platform, betting that the privacy-focused cryptocurrency will climb toward the $475–$516 range.

Blockchain analytics platform Lookonchain said a newly created wallet deposited 3.56 million USDC into Hyperliquid before opening a 4x long position on 36,000 XMR, worth approximately $14.33 million at the time of the transaction.

The whale has already set take-profit orders at prices ranging from $475 to $516, indicating that it expects further upside in XMR. 

Large traders use derivatives platforms to position for potentially significant price moves. The size of the position exposes the trader to amplified gains and losses because of the leverage involved.

Lookonchain did not identify the wallet owner.

Monero's big year

Monero has emerged as one of the strongest-performing privacy-focused cryptocurrencies in recent months. This is due to growing demand for privacy assets, major developments around its technology and so on.

Due to its privacy-focused capabilities, XMR remains the darling of cybercriminals. Last month, bad actors used XLM in a $120 million USDT laundering operation. Notably, the transactions coincided with a sharp rally in XMR. It climbed from $330 to $438 before Tether froze approximately $72 million linked to the activity.

Monero has also been gaining attention for technological developments. The implementation of FCMP++ is a major upgrade that is meant to strengthen Monero's privacy. 

More recently, Monero was again linked to illicit fund flows after Coinsbuy wallets reportedly lost $7.9 million in a cross-chain attack affecting Tron and Ethereum. 

Blockchain investigator Specter said the attacker had begun laundering the stolen assets into Monero through exchanges. ChangeNOW reportedly froze a six-figure amount of the stolen funds. Coinsbuy temporarily suspended deposits and withdrawals before restoring its services.

Despite its role in privacy and illicit-finance discussions, XMR remains a major crypto player. Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson said in May that there was no reason Cardano could not cooperate with Monero and Zcash.