Mysterious trader shorts $40 million despite market rally

The crypto rally that began after the short squeeze caused by the U.S. Treasury's Aug. 19 announcement to at least double the amount of long-term bond buybacks is cooling off for a while now.

Yet, Bitcoin (BTC) has surged from around $65,000 to $80,000, and Ethereum (ETH) from below $2,000 to $2,500 during this period.

Bitcoin and Ether hit as high as $81,160.06 and $2,558.47 during this rally and are currently trading at $79,741 and $2,502.

Related: Bitcoin eyes $6.4 billion options expiry on 'choppy' Friday

Mysterious trader shorts Bitcoin and Ether worth $40 million

Amid the crypto market rally, a mysterious trader created a new wallet, deposited 5 million USDC into Hyperliquid, and then opened 20-times-leveraged short positions in 247.63 Bitcoin and 8,155 Ether on Aug. 26, the onchain analysis platform Lookonchain revealed.

Due to the anonymous nature of crypto exchanges, a trader's wallet address remains public, but their identity generally remains private. That is why such a crypto trader is also called a "mysterious trader" whose identity remains anonymous.

Most Popular on TheStreet Roundtable:

Hyperliquid is a decentralized crypto exchange that is built to primarily trade high-leverage perpetual futures. The exchange lets traders speculate on cryptocurrencies, commodities, equities, and private-company valuations through blockchain-based markets.