Whales on Hyperliquid are already shorting PUMP

Whales on Hyperliquid are already shorting PUMP, the newly announced token of Pump.fun. Two whales made deposits and opened short positions with limited leverage. 

Hyperliquid is already becoming the venue to short PUMP, the token of Pump.fun expected to reach wallets from July 15 onward. Hyperliquid launched a PUMP-USD futures market by user request, only allowing up to 3X leverage. 

By community request, Hyperliquid has listed PUMP-USD hyperps. You can now long or short the unlaunched $PUMP token with up to 3x leverage. pic.twitter.com/a3T4tjnS87

— Hyperliquid (@HyperliquidX) July 10, 2025

Hyperliquid launched PUMP with so-called hyperps, which do not rely on an external oracle. The price discovery for PUMP will depend on market incentives based on funding rates. If too many whales short PUMP, the incentives will favor long positions with more favorable funding rates. 

Following the PUMP token launch, Hyperliquid will switch the pair to its usual perpetual futures. The exchange warned of extreme volatility and low liquidity in the initial PUMP market.

The whale deposits on Hyperliquid arrived just hours after Pump.fun confirmed the launch of a new token, with a presale page on Bybit. Within the first hours of trading, Hyperliquid saw over $19M in new open interest with $35M trading volumes. In the first hour of trading, PUMP traded around $0.005, higher than its intended presale price.

PUMP will launch with a generally unfavorable view, following a period of lower meme activity. The token is expected to crash soon after launch. However, the short positions remain risky, despite the low leverage, as the initial trading may be highly volatile. 

Currently, most of the short positions are held above the intended token sale price, expecting at least a 30% rise after the actual token launch and the addition of spot trading. 

Whales predict different PUMP scenarios after the launch

The first whale position fluctuated between $744K and $700K depending on the notional value of the pre-traded token. The whale has chosen a liquidation price of $0.02. The whale’s position allows for more leeway in the case PUMP rallies in its early trading. 

The other trader’s position reached a notional value above $790K at one point. This whale chose an extremely low entry price of $0.005 and has a liquidation price of $0.009. 

For now, on-chain data shows these are the most significant PUMP positions, coming within the first hours following the PUMP-USD pair launch. 

PUMP will be sold at $0.004, expecting to distribute 150T tokens. The initial trading may easily liquidate the early short positions, especially if not all traders can send their tokens to an exchange for selling. 

Binance to offer 5X leverage for PUMP

Binance has also announced it would add its own perpetual futures market for PUMP. The exchange will offer up to 5X leverage. 

The trading pair launched as of 7:30 UTC on July 10, adding another tool for PUMP price discovery. 

The current futures market for PUMP remains extremely chaotic, with high funding rates for short positions. Funding rates jumped to 1,100% annualized for Hyperliquid short positions, showing an expectation the token sale would end in a crash.

Ahead of Binance’s pair launch, KuCoin offered outright token purchases capped at $1M per person. This is higher than the Bybit limit of 500K per individual user. The exchange filled its pre-launch subscription within hours. 

The token sale is limited to traders outside the EU and the USA. Hyperliquid may remain the most viable option for exposure to PUMP, without outright holding the token. 

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