A crypto trader has walked away with $6.8 million in profit after placing highly leveraged well-timed trades, scaling into long positions hours before President Donald Trump’s U.S. crypto reserve announcement on Sunday.
The trader, operating on decentralized derivatives exchange, Hyperliquid, deposited $6 million in USDC and used 50x leverage to open long positions in Bitcoin and Ethereum, according to on-chain analytics platform Lookonchain.
The strategy carried significant risk—a 2% price drop would have triggered liquidation—but instead, the market surged following Trump’s announcement, allowing the trader to exit with millions in gains.
Strategic market timing raises questions
At 9:49 AM ET on Sunday, the trader began aggressively increasing Ethereum long positions, acquiring hundreds of ETH contracts at $2,190 to $2,202, according to data provided by analytics dashboard Hyperdash.
Just 35 minutes later, at 10:24 AM ET, Trump announced on Truth Social that his administration would establish a U.S. Crypto Strategic Reserve, naming Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Solana, and Cardano as part of the initiative.
It is unclear if the move was based on speculation or prior knowledge of the impending statement.
In any case, the market reacted instantly to Trump’s announcement with Bitcoin surging beyond $90,000 while Ethereum climbed above $2,400. Both assets are up 10% and 14.6% respectively on the day to $94,378 and $2,540, CoinGecko data shows.
The move comes after Trump signed an executive order on digital assets, establishing a Presidential Working Group to shape crypto policy and explore his campaign pledge of a Bitcoin reserve.
The surprise inclusion of XRP, Cardano, Solana, and Ethereum to that initiative, sent prices soaring.
His announcement follows months of regulatory rollbacks, with the SEC retreating from legal battles against major crypto firms like Coinbase and Robinhood.
$6.8 million profit in phased exits
As crypto prices surged, the trader began closing positions in phases, securing gains while reducing exposure to volatility.
Bitcoin exits were executed between $87,500 and $91,399, while Ethereum positions were sold above $2,270, on-chain data shows.
By Sunday afternoon, the trader had fully exited the bulk of their positions, locking in $6.8 million in profit.
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