The risky short bet was made in anticipation of Ethereum’s Pectra upgrade as Ether fell nearly 11% amid growing global trade concerns.
An anonymous cryptocurrency trader has accumulated almost $68 million in unrealized profit by shorting Ether amid its recent price decline.
According to blockchain data from Hypurrscan, the trader opened a 50x leveraged short position when Ether (ETH) was trading at $3,176, on Feb. 1. As of 9:06 am UTC on March 5, the position had almost $68 million in unrealized profit.
Shorting involves “borrowing” the underlying cryptocurrency from a broker, selling it at the current price, and then repurchasing it once the price falls — a strategy used by traders to bet on the price decline of an asset.
American financial services company Robinhood has announced that it is set to acquire WonderFi, a leading Canadian fintech and crypto platform, for $178.9 million (250 million CAD). The firm will buy WonderFi’s shares for $0.26 (0.36 CAD) each.
Robinhood announced the deal on May 13. This marks a significant step in its international expansion into the Canadian cryptocurrency market.
Robinhood to Enter Canadian Market via WonderFi Acquisition
According to the official announcement, Robinhood will finance the purchase with cash. The acquisition is expected to close in the second half of 2025, pending regulatory approvals, court approval, and WonderFi shareholder consent.
Notably, WonderFi currently manages over 2.1 billion CAD in custodied assets. It operates two Canadian-regulated digital asset exchanges, Bitbuy and Coinsquare. Furthermore, in 2024, the platform recorded a trading volume of 3.57 billion CAD and revenue of 62.1 million CAD.
“WonderFi has built a formidable family of brands serving beginner and advanced crypto users alike, making them an ideal partner to accelerate Robinhood’s mission in Canada,” Johann Kerbrat, SVP and GM of Robinhood Crypto, stated.
With this latest move, Robinhood aims to expand its offerings in Canada, a growing crypto market. The acquisition will leverage WonderFi’s technologies and products, including crypto trading, staking, and custody services.
Following the agreement, WonderFi will operate under Robinhood Crypto while continuing to deliver its existing products to Canadian customers. The WonderFi leadership team, including President and CEO Dean Skurka, will remain in place. They will join forces with Robinhood’s existing Canadian workforce of over 140 employees, based primarily in Toronto.
“WonderFi and Robinhood are united in our visions of making crypto accessible and bringing more people into the crypto space,” Skurka said.
The news positively impacted Robinhood’s stock, HOOD. According to Yahoo Finance data, the stock prices rose 8.9% to $62.5 at market close. Additionally, HOOD appreciated an additional 0.3% to $62.7 in after-hours trading.
This latest decision aligns with Robinhood’s broader strategy to expand its global footprint in the cryptocurrency sector. In 2024, the firm entered an agreement to acquire Bitstamp.
These deals are supported by a more favorable regulatory environment under President Trump’s second term. In fact, in late February, the SEC dropped its investigation into Robinhood, with similar steps taken for Coinbase, OpenSea, and others.
Meanwhile, Robinhood isn’t alone in its expansion plans. On May 8, Coinbase announced its $2.9 billion purchase of Deribit. Preceding that, Ripple acquired Hidden Road for $1.25 billion. In addition, Kraken bought NinjaTrader in a $1.5 billion deal. This reflects a broader trend of major crypto players acquiring financial platforms.
ZachXBT’s investigation claims that the mysterious 50X Hyperliquid whale is actually a British cyber criminal named William Parker (formerly known as Alistair Packover). Parker has a long history of fraud, hacking, and casino theft.
This trader made headlines by profiting roughly $20 million from a series of highly leveraged trades
Who is William Parker, AKA the 50X Hyperliquid Whale?
William Parker is a British cyber criminal with a long track record in hacking and fraud.
“I tracked down a recent payment from 0xe4d3 to an unnamed person who confirmed they had been paid by the Hyperliquid trader. They provided a UK phone number used to communicate with them. Public record reveals the name William Parker is likely tied to this number,” wrote ZachXBT.
He was arrested in 2023 for allegedly stealing around $1 million from two casinos. Even after serving time, Parker continued his illicit activities.
William Parker, AKA Alistair Packover. Source: BBC
So, how did he actually make $20 million in a very short time? The answer is ‘using leverage’.
Understanding 50x Hyperliquid Trades
In crypto, leverage means borrowing funds to increase the size of your trading position. In this case, the whale used up to 50× leverage. This means that even a small favorable move in an asset’s price could multiply his profits many times over.
For example, if he had a 50× leveraged position and the price moved 2% in his favor, that 2% swing could translate into about a 100% gain on his original investment.
“A whale who opened a $450 million short position on btc with 40x leverage closed all their trades, making a $9.46M profit in 8 days. Although this person is referred to as a “Hyperliquid whale,” they are actually a criminal, gambling with stolen funds,” wrote Web3 attorney Langerius.
The trader, William Parker, as revealed by ZachXBT, opened very large positions in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ether during volatile market moments.
He timed his trades when the market was moving rapidly earlier this month due to the whole White House Crypto Summit and Bitcoin reserve saga.
The volatile market sentiment allowed him to move around big events or sudden price changes.
“When a whale shorts over $450 million in BTC and wants a public audience, it’s only possible on Hyperliquid. Anyone can photoshop a PNL screenshot. No one can question a Hyperliquid position, just like no one can question a Bitcoin balance. The decentralized future is here,” Hyperliquid wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
How Did Parker’s Leveraged Trades Affect the Market?
In some cases, his massive trades also forced other traders into liquidation. When a trader’s position is liquidated, the system sells its assets at a loss to cover the borrowed funds.
This boosted the whale’s gains and also disrupted the market. Although using 50× leverage is extremely risky, Parker managed his trades carefully.
His strategy was successful enough that he reportedly made around $20 million from these high-stakes moves.
Binance Alpha announced an airdrop for Redacted’s new RDAC token, making it the first platform to host the asset. RDAC fell more than 40% after the token first launched, but it has slowly recovered throughout the day.
RDAC powers Redacted’s startup accelerator ecosystem, enabling users to access a wide variety of Web3-oriented platforms. It already has staking capabilities to let holders passively reap additional rewards.
As with other recent projects, Binance Alpha attracted a lot of notoriety when it announced an airdrop for Redacted’s new RDAC token.
Binance is the first platform to feature Redacted (RDAC), with trading beginning on May 13, 2025, at 10:00 UTC.
Eligible Binance users with at least 205 Alpha points can claim an airdrop of 482 RDAC tokens on the Alpha Event page starting at 10:00 UTC on May 13, 2025.… https://t.co/7xOXmKrcBe
Redacted, a platform designed to accelerate startups across various Web3 sectors, was founded in 2021. It first launched RDAC in a closed sale this March, surpassing the firm’s $3 million funding target.
RDAC powers Redacted’s broader blockchain ecosystem, from various infrastructure platforms to staking rewards and more. These platforms offer features like cross-chain bridging, a DePIN GameFi project, marketplaces, NFT minting, etc.
Revenue from these platforms gets funneled back into the ecosystem, which attempts to maintain RDAC’s long-term sustainability.
Binance’s airdrop announcement attracted a lot of community interest, as this was the average retailer’s first opportunity to acquire RDAC.
Users can earn the asset by completing tasks within the Redacted ecosystem, like interacting with community channels. They can then stake RDAC to unlock additional benefits and rewards in addition to simply selling the token.
Crypto airdrops can frequently cause immense selling pressure, and RDAC’s Binance debut was no exception. Speculative investors quickly dumped the token, causing its value to plummet more than 50% in the first three hours.
However, it has steadily regained this ground throughout the day, displaying community interest in buying it and engaging with Redacted’s ecosystem.
Hopefully, RDAC’s quiet gains after the Binance airdrop are an encouraging sign for the ecosystem’s viability. Redacted has been constructing its startup accelerator for several years, and it has ambitious plans for the future.
A high-profile introduction like this can help set RDAC up for long-term success.
