A wallet linked to market maker Wintermute held a $10.19 million XRP short position on Hyperliquid on Aug. 24, even as XRP traded near $1.47 after a 47% weekly rally. The wallet's overall short exposure reached $190.77 million as leverage climbed alongside XRP's price.
The wallet attributed to Wintermute carried a $10.19 million short position against XRP on Hyperliquid on Aug. 24, according to a snapshot published by blockchain analytics account Onchain Lens. The position made XRP the fifth-largest bearish bet in the account at the time.
Wintermute-linked shorts reach $190.77 million
The wallet's overall short exposure hit $190.77 million, up by approximately $44.58 million from an earlier $146.19 million snapshot. Ethereum represented the largest position at $53.02 million, followed by Bitcoin at $30.66 million and Solana at $22.62 million. The account also held an $11.43 million HYPE short alongside the XRP position, with a combined unrealized loss of approximately $5.85 million.
An earlier snapshot showed $160.03 million in total open positions, comprising $146.19 million in shorts and $13.85 million in longs, while the wallet had earned about $2.14 million in funding. Onchain Lens also reported lifetime profits of $203.55 million for the address, though past results do not guarantee the current positions will hold.
XRP's rally leans on leverage
XRP traded near $1.47 on Aug. 24 after gaining approximately 47% over seven days, moving between $1.46 and $1.54 over the latest 24-hour period on volume near $4.85 billion.
The token had briefly touched $1.69 on Aug. 22 before retreating. Separately, XRP futures open interest jumped 34.49%, or roughly $939 million, to about $3.66 billion over seven days. Around $21.42 million in XRP derivatives positions were liquidated during the preceding 24 hours, with long liquidations accounting for approximately $12.47 million against $8.95 million from shorts, reflecting elevated leverage on the rally.
A short position doesn't confirm a bearish bet
A large short position can reflect a directional wager, but market makers also use perpetual futures to hedge spot inventory, options exposure, and client transactions. Wintermute operates across centralized and decentralized venues, so it could hold offsetting exposure not visible through this single Hyperliquid address. The wallet's attribution itself rests on third-party labels rather than a company statement, and Wintermute has not confirmed it controls the address.
What comes next for XRP
The first test is whether XRP can hold the $1.44 to $1.46 region after its weekly surge, with resistance around the recent $1.54 high and then the psychological $1.60 level. A move above those levels could deepen losses for uncovered short positions, while a decline below support could instead benefit the bearish exposure.
Sources: crypto.news, Cryptonews
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