Highlights
- A trader who reportedly made $27 million on TRUMP in two days has deposited 2.19 million USDC into Hyperliquid.
- The trader opened a 3x short on 5,200 ZEC worth $6.49 million, with a liquidation price of $1,613.47.
- Zcash trades near $1,247, up sharply this year as a Grayscale ETF listing and a closed SEC probe fuel a rally.
- The new short joins a string of Hyperliquid ZEC shorts already sitting on tens of millions in unrealized losses.
$27M Trader Turns Bearish on ZEC
On-chain analytics account Lookonchain flagged a new short bet against Zcash on September 10, placed by a trader identified by the handle @XXAntiWar who reportedly banked more than $27 million trading the TRUMP token over just two days. The trader deposited 2.19 million USDC into Hyperliquid and opened a 3x leveraged short on 5,200 ZEC, a position worth roughly $6.49 million at entry. The trade's liquidation price sits at $1,613.47, according to on-chain data visible on the Hyperliquid block explorer Hypurrscan. The bet arrives as Zcash trades near $1,247, having rallied hard enough this year that a growing list of short sellers on the same platform are already sitting on steep unrealized losses.
A Rally That's Already Burned Shorts
Zcash's move has been one of the standout stories in crypto this year. The privacy coin has surged as Grayscale advanced a spot Zcash ETF filing and the SEC closed an investigation into the Zcash Foundation, catalysts that helped push ZEC to an eight-year high and briefly above $1,200 — levels last seen in 2018. Privacy coins as a sector are up roughly 213% in 2026, outpacing every other corner of the crypto market, with Zcash leading the charge. That backdrop has made shorting ZEC one of the more punishing trades on Hyperliquid this year. Short sellers as a group were already nursing roughly $30 million in combined losses as the token pushed through $1,200, and a separate large short tied to an entry near $444 has reportedly run up tens of millions more in paper losses as the rally extended. Against that history, the new position stands out for its relatively wide berth: a liquidation price of $1,613.47 sits more than 29% above Zcash's current level, giving the trader considerably more room than shorts opened at lower entry points before the rally accelerated. The moderate 3x leverage also suggests a more measured bet than the highly leveraged shorts that have been forced to keep adding margin just to stay solvent.
What the New Position Signals
The trade also illustrates a broader tension building around Zcash: a market where institutional catalysts — an ETF filing advancing toward listing, a closed regulatory probe — are colliding with a crowded field of leveraged shorts betting the rally has outrun fundamentals. Every new short added to that pile raises the stakes for a squeeze if ZEC pushes higher, since forced buybacks from liquidated positions can accelerate a rally rather than cap it, a dynamic that has already played out for at least one trader on Hyperliquid this month.
Related: Zcash Tops $819 as Grayscale's Fifth ETF Amendment Lands
For a trader who just banked eight figures on a two-day TRUMP swing, the ZEC short reads as a bet that Zcash's move has become detached from what fundamentals can support in the near term. Whether that read is correct will show up quickly: Hyperliquid positions are public and liquidatable in real time, meaning any further leg up in ZEC puts pressure on the position's $1,613.47 liquidation line well before the token would need to double from here. That transparency is precisely why accounts like Lookonchain track wallets like this one so closely — the same on-chain visibility that let observers watch this trader's TRUMP gains materialize now lets the market watch this short in real time, for better or worse.
What Comes Next
The immediate level to watch is Zcash's ability to hold below the low-$1,300s, the zone where at least one other Hyperliquid short has already been forced toward liquidation this month. A sustained push through that range would tighten the screws on every short still open, including this new position, while a pullback toward the $1,000-$1,100 area would validate the bearish call and hand the trader another quick win to add to the TRUMP trade. Grayscale's ETF process remains the structural catalyst to track beyond the immediate price action — further amendments or a listing date would give Zcash bulls a fresh headline to trade, while any regulatory setback could be the trigger shorts are waiting for. Until then, Hyperliquid's public order books will keep this trade, and the growing pile of ZEC shorts around it, in full view.
FAQ
Who is the trader behind the new ZEC short?
Lookonchain identified the wallet by the handle @XXAntiWar, an account the on-chain tracker says made more than $27 million trading the TRUMP token in just two days.
What is the size and leverage of the position?
The trader deposited 2.19 million USDC into Hyperliquid and opened a 3x short on 5,200 ZEC, a position worth about $6.49 million at entry.
At what price does the short get liquidated?
The position's liquidation price is $1,613.47, more than 29% above Zcash's price near $1,247 at the time of writing.
Why has shorting Zcash been risky this year?
ZEC has surged as Grayscale advanced a spot ETF filing and the SEC closed a probe into the Zcash Foundation, a rally that has already left other Hyperliquid short sellers with tens of millions of dollars in unrealized losses.
