Abraxas Capital has built up a short position in Brent crude over the past few days. The fund, which has a notional value of $135 million, is betting that oil will fall despite rising geopolitical tensions.
Abraxas Capital continued to expand its perpetual oil futures position. The Fund bet on a decline in the Brent contract, represented by HIP-3. Abraxas Capital has $2 billion in assets under management and specializes in using traditional financial strategies across all available crypto markets.
Abraxas used its two main wallets to short both Brent crude oil and WTI light crude oil. Transaction(.)XYZ. Both wallets contain additional positions in Brent short and WTI contracts worth $101 million. Abraxas is also short gold, but it is also long gold. $BTCSOL, Silver.
As a cryptopolitan reported Previously, the market has not gotten over the initial oil supply shock, but oil prices have stalled at around $100.
Why is Abraxas Capital shorting oil?
Abraxas Capital can afford to pay relatively high fees to hold oil positions. Liquidation prices range between $146 and $141 per barrel, with Brent trading around $115. WTI remains near $102.
Compared to cryptocurrencies, even the current volatile oil market remains sluggish, and Abraxas Capital could benefit from even a small downturn. Hyperliquid is open 24/7 and can reflect the latest news on geopolitical tensions leading to an immediate downturn in oil prices.
This relatively risky strategy is combined with Abraxas’ regular crypto activities. long $BTC This position also suggests that Abraxas Capital expects at least some market normalization. All positions may only work in the short term and may not reflect sustainable trends.
Oil still leads the ultra-liquid commodity market
Both Brent and WTI constitute the busiest trading contracts in HIP-3. Brent open interest remains at $419 million and daily volume is $370 million.
The WTI CL contract holds $262 million in open interest and has daily volume of $441 million. Both oil futures are below the peak of trading activity when WTI peaked at $1.5 billion.
Silver and gold are no longer used as assets to respond to market uncertainty. oil is a faster-reacting product, allowing crypto traders to profit from directional bets. The platform remains an important venue on weekends and after market hours, and new developments in the Iran war could change the direction of prices.
In addition to whales like Abraxas, Hyperliquid is attracting new retail wallets. As of March 25th, a record 7,794 new users entered the market, thanks in part to HIP-3’s attractive offers.
Transaction(.)XYZ remains the leading third-party market for HIP-3, with peak open interest of $1.76 billion. Transaction(.)XYZ The market share reached 85.6%, leaving other exchanges behind.
The influx of new users supported HYPE, which recovered to $38.83 after its recent decline. However, Abraxas Capital did not express confidence in the platform’s native token. Instead, it shorted the asset with a position with a notional amount of $3.93 million.
