Abraxas Capital buys $32M ETH to hedge $353M Hyperliquid short

Abraxas Capital has bought another 13,000 $ETH worth $32.39 million in the spot market to hedge part of a 141,180 $ETH short position on Hyperliquid valued at $353.27 million.

Lookonchain said on Sept. 8 that Abraxas Capital purchased the additional Ether while keeping its much larger short position open on the decentralized derivatives platform. The blockchain analytics account described the transaction as another spot purchase made specifically to hedge the short.

At the values provided by Lookonchain, the latest purchase was made at an implied price of roughly $2,491 per $ETH. The 13,000 $ETH position equals just over 9% of the firm’s 141,180 $ETH short when measured by the number of tokens.

Abraxas therefore remains heavily net short based solely on the positions disclosed by Lookonchain. Subtracting the latest 13,000 $ETH spot hedge from the 141,180 $ETH short leaves 128,180 $ETH of net short exposure before considering any other holdings or positions controlled by the firm.

Abraxas Capital keeps $353 million $ETH short open

Lookonchain valued the Hyperliquid short at approximately $353.27 million at the time of its post, compared with $32.39 million for the latest spot purchase.

The hedge gives Abraxas exposure to $ETH in opposite directions. The short position benefits from a decline in Ether’s price, while the spot $ETH gains value when the token rises. Lookonchain specifically characterized the latest purchase as a hedge, rather than a closure or reduction of the underlying short position.

Large leveraged positions have become common on Hyperliquid, where whale accounts have carried several billion dollars in combined positions this year.

In May, crypto.news previously reported that Hyperliquid whale positions had reached $4.039 billion. Long exposure stood at $1.981 billion, while shorts accounted for $2.058 billion, producing a long-to-short ratio of 0.96.

Both sides of the whale book were underwater at the time. Long positions carried roughly $30.8 million in aggregate unrealized losses, compared with approximately $14.6 million in losses on short positions.

One of the largest individual trades in the May snapshot involved an $ETH whale using 15x leverage. The account held roughly $87 million in Ether exposure from an entry near $2,265 and was sitting on more than $3.6 million in unrealized losses.

A separate reading five days earlier placed Hyperliquid whale exposure at $4.236 billion. Long positions totaled $2.099 billion, or 49.55% of the total, against $2.137 billion in shorts.

The split produced a long-to-short ratio of 0.98, leaving large traders almost evenly positioned between bullish and bearish bets.

Abraxas has made large Ethereum purchases before

The latest transaction is not Abraxas Capital’s first large on-chain move involving Ether.

In May 2025, the investment manager withdrew 138,511 $ETH valued at roughly $297 million from centralized exchanges over two days, according to Lookonchain. The transfers occurred during a sharp $ETH rally that pushed the token above $2,300.

Abraxas then increased its holdings with another 33,482 $ETH purchase worth $84.7 million.

Lookonchain data cited at the time showed that the firm had accumulated 211,030 $ETH over six days, worth more than $477 million. The purchases followed the earlier withdrawal of approximately $297 million in $ETH from exchanges.

The 2025 accumulation occurred under different market conditions and does not establish the purpose of the firm’s current positions. Lookonchain has specifically described the Sept. 8 spot transaction as a hedge against the Hyperliquid short.

Hyperliquid whale positioning has changed considerably at different points this year. In April, large trader positions totaled $3.4 billion, consisting of $1.737 billion in longs and $1.663 billion in shorts.

Long positions were carrying approximately $153 million in aggregate unrealized losses at the time, while shorts were sitting on roughly $161 million in unrealized profits.

An $ETH whale tracked in the same dataset held a 15x leveraged long from around $2,148.70 and was down approximately $8.6 million.

Ethereum trades close to $2,500

Abraxas made its latest hedge while Ether remained close to the $2,500 level following a recovery from early September lows.

On Sept. 7, Ethereum traded near $2,493 after moving between approximately $2,475 and $2,537 during the session.

$ETH had repeatedly failed to hold above $2,500, while its daily relative strength index had eased to 63.62 after the August rally.

Liquidation data cited in the report showed notable leveraged positions clustered around $2,430 below the market and between $2,540 and $2,600 above it. The nearest support zone was concentrated between roughly $2,423 and $2,475.

Ether had been trading considerably lower less than a week earlier. On Sept. 2, the token fell to an intraday low of $2,356 after failing to clear resistance close to $2,550.

Approximately $94.2 million in $ETH futures positions were liquidated over 24 hours during the decline, while Ethereum fell below $2,400.

$ETH remained above several medium-term moving averages at the time, including its 20-day simple moving average near $2,299 and its 50-day, 100-day and 200-day averages near $2,054, $1,903 and $2,030, respectively.

The token later recovered toward the $2,500 area, putting Abraxas’ latest 13,000 $ETH spot purchase close to the same price zone.

Institutional demand for spot Ether has remained active during the recovery. U.S. spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds recorded $225.8 million in net inflows on Aug. 28, extending a nine-session buying streak to $1.42 billion.

BlackRock’s ETHA accounted for $1.02 billion, or roughly 72%, of the nine-day ETF inflows. Fidelity’s FETH recorded $56.2 million on Aug. 28, while BlackRock’s staked ETHB product added $20.7 million.

Lookonchain’s Sept. 8 figures put Abraxas Capital’s latest spot hedge at 13,000 $ETH worth $32.39 million, while the firm’s Hyperliquid short remained at 141,180 $ETH with a notional value of $353.27 million.