Zcash News Today: ZEC Short Loses $6.5M as Whale Balances Risk with Profiting ETH Bet

A major Zcash (ZEC) short position on Hyperliquid has become a focal point of on-chain activity, with a whale maintaining a high-stakes bet despite volatile price swings. The position, initiated on October 11, has endured for over a month and currently faces a floating loss of $6.5 million, down from a peak of $22.04 million earlier this week. The whale's strategy has involved continuous additions to the position during price rallies, a tactic aimed at averaging down costs as ZEC fluctuates above $450.

The address, which shorted 60,870.43 ZEC, has repeatedly bolstered its collateral to avoid liquidation. On November 17, an additional $5 million in USDC was injected into the account. The position's liquidation price now stands at $1,112.45, reflecting the whale's aggressive leverage. Meanwhile, the broader market context shows ZEC trading near $453, up from an opening price of $336. This divergence between the whale's entry cost and current market value underscores the high-risk, high-reward nature of the trade.

Complicating the narrative is the whale's simultaneous ETH short position. The same address opened a 15x leveraged ETH short worth $27 million, with an unrealized profit of $5.5 million as ETH trades at $4,094. This dual approach—shorting ZEC while profiting from ETH—suggests a hedged strategy to balance exposure across crypto assets. The ETH position, opened on the same date as the ZEC bet, has benefited from a recent pullback in Bitcoin prices, which has dragged altcoins lower.

The ZEC short's resilience highlights a broader trend in on-chain behavior: whales increasingly using leverage and collateral adjustments to sustain positions during turbulent markets. Analysts note that the whale's actions reflect confidence in ZEC's long-term price trajectory, even as short-term volatility persists. According to on-chain analyst Auntie Ai, "This is a classic example of a high-conviction trade." "The whale is clearly betting on a structural decline in ZEC, not just a temporary dip."

However, the position's survival hinges on market conditions remaining favorable. If ZEC breaks above $700—a level it has tested multiple times this month—the floating loss could widen again, forcing further collateral injections. Conversely, a sustained downturn could allow the whale to lock in profits from the ETH short and potentially close the ZEC position at a breakeven or even profitable level.