A trader opened a high-risk long bet on Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) just before the cryptocurrency’s dramatic Wednesday surge, locking in paper gains of over $6 million.
Perfectly-Timed ETH Trade Raises Eyebrows
The whale initiated a 4x leveraged long position in ETH on the decentralized perpetual trading platform Hyperliquid at an entry price of $1,936, according to Lookonchain.
Shortly after they opened the position, ETH started rallying sharply. Since then, the coin has surged nearly 16%, netting the whale an unrealized profit of $6.192 million.
“What a coincidence,” Lookonchain said, expressing skepticism over the timing of the trade.
Benzinga Note: Leverage trading allows cryptocurrency traders to open larger positions using borrowed capital. While it can potentially amplify profits, it also significantly increases the risk of substantial losses due to the volatile nature of cryptocurrencies.
What a coincidence!
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) August 20, 2026
13 hours ago, a whale created a new wallet (0xedcd), deposited 20M $USDC into Hyperliquid, and opened a 4x long on 20,000 $ETH($45.38M).
Shortly after he opened the position, $ETH started surging.
He is now sitting on an unrealized profit of $6.66M.… pic.twitter.com/uSIF68U3sS
Other ETH trades also drew scrutiny.
In the days leading up to Wednesday, a whale acquired 10,657 ETH valued at approximately $20 million, with half of the total purchased on Tuesday. The investor went on to stake the ETH.
Transaction data from Arkham Intelligence showed sequential large inflows from Kraken hot wallet, followed by deposits to the Ethereum Beacon Chain contract
Whale 0x8447 bought another 5,000 $ETH($9.53M) 7 hours ago and staked it.
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) August 18, 2026
This whale has bought a total of 10,657 $ETH($20.07M).https://t.co/mOPLAdEMTo pic.twitter.com/zSFQny55gm
Market Takes Note of Trump’s Crypto-Supportive Stance
Ethereum soared to levels not seen since May 12, with 24-hour trading volume exploding by 408%. The asset recorded roughly $1.13 billion in liquidations over the last 24 hours, with short liquidations amounting to $1.02 billion, according to Coinglass.
Growing optimism over the passage of the CLARITY Act energized the market, while President Donald Trump’s commitment to preserving U.S. leadership in Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) and other cryptocurrencies added to the momentum.
He added that the U.S. is currently the "hottest country" in the world and urged Congress to take the next step by passing the CLARITY Act.
Price Action: At the time of writing, ETH was exchanging hands at $2,244.57, up 17.50% in the last 24 hours, according to data from Benzinga Pro.
Read Also: Ethereum Jumps 8% to $2,080 as Tom Lee Backs Vlad Tenev's 'Global Tokenization Supercycle'
Photo: Zakharchuk on Shutterstock
