Whale Expands SOL Short Position Amid Market Downturn

By: crypto insight|2025/12/16 06:30:22

Key Takeaways

A prominent whale has significantly increased a SOL short position using 20x leverage.
This strategic move has netted the whale approximately $15.9 million in floating profit.
The ongoing market drop has been a key factor in facilitating these gains.
Byreal, a Solana DEX, achieved $1 billion in cumulative trading volume within ten weeks of its launch.
The UK’s FCA has begun consultations to introduce new crypto regulations to ensure market integrity and prevent insider trading.

WEEX Crypto News, 16 December 2025

In the ever-evolving landscape of cryptocurrency trading, significant market moves by influential players frequently attract attention. One such recent event involved a whale’s strategic trading decision that capitalized on a sharp market downturn. The focus of this account rests specifically on a whale’s expanded short position on Solana (SOL), a major decentralized blockchain solution known for facilitating fast transactions.

Strategic Leverage in Cryptocurrencies

The whale, identified under the blockchain address “0x35d,” has notably increased their SOL short position. Utilizing a 20x leverage, a tactic that allows traders to amplify their potential returns by borrowing capital, the whale’s heightened investment strategy aligns with the ongoing market slump. According to insights from Onchain Lens, this strategic position realignment has generated an impressive floating profit of approximately $15.9 million.

Leverage, while enabling substantial profit potential, is a double-edged sword in trading. The increased risk associated with leverage magnifies potential losses as well as gains, making it a strategy typically reserved for those possessing considerable trading experience and market knowledge. In this scenario, the market downturn likely assisted in achieving these noteworthy returns.

Solana DEX Byreal Reaches New Milestone

In parallel to these developments, Byreal, a decentralized exchange (DEX) operating on the Solana blockchain, has marked a significant milestone by amassing $1 billion in trading volume just ten weeks post-launch. Byreal’s impressive growth underscores the continuing innovation and adoption within the Solana ecosystem, which is known for its fast throughput and scalability.

The rapid volume accumulation by Byreal also highlights a growing interest in decentralized exchanges. These platforms offer an alternative to traditional centralized exchanges by enabling peer-to-peer transactions without the need for a central authority, which can result in lower transaction fees and increased privacy.

Regulatory Developments in the UK

Amid these developments in the cryptocurrency trading realm, regulatory landscape shifts are also taking place. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the United Kingdom has initiated a broad public consultation aimed at formulating new regulatory standards for the crypto industry. The FCA’s proposed regulations are intended to address essential concerns such as insider trading and market manipulation, ensuring a safer and more transparent trading environment.

These initiatives by the FCA demonstrate a concerted effort to harmonize the regulatory framework surrounding cryptocurrency within existing financial systems, aligning with broader global regulatory aspirations, such as the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulations. These frameworks are designed to foster innovation while maintaining robust protection measures for investors and the market.

Strategic Insights and Market Implications

The strategic increase in the whale’s short position on Solana amidst a bearish market not only illustrates a classic trading move capitalizing on market volatility but also reflects broader trends in cryptocurrency trading strategies. Such actions serve as a reminder of the speculative nature of cryptocurrency markets, where substantial financial gains are a possible outcome of calculated risks.

Moreover, Byreal’s growth is a testament to the advancements and scaling capabilities within blockchain technology, particularly within Solana’s ecosystem. These developments point towards a burgeoning interest in decentralized finance (DeFi) solutions, which continue to challenge traditional financial conventions.

Further regulatory clarity being pursued by entities like the FCA will likely influence the backdrop against which such trading activities occur. Establishing comprehensive rules that address current market vulnerabilities could potentially stabilize and legitimize crypto markets globally.

FAQ

What is the significance of the whale’s SOL short position?

The whale’s short position on SOL is noteworthy due to its use of 20x leverage and the resultant $15.9 million floating profit. This showcases a high-risk, high-reward strategy benefitting from current market downtrends.

How does leverage affect cryptocurrency trading?

Leverage in cryptocurrency trading allows investors to borrow funds to increase their trading position in hopes of amplifying profits. However, it also increases potential losses, making it a high-risk strategy typically used by experienced traders.

What milestone did Byreal achieve?

Byreal, a decentralized exchange on the Solana blockchain, reached $1 billion in trading volume within ten weeks of its launch, indicating significant growth and adoption within the platform and the broader Solana ecosystem.

Why is the FCA’s consultation important for the crypto market?

The FCA’s consultation is pivotal as it seeks to establish new regulatory measures aimed at preventing insider trading and market manipulation, potentially leading to a more secure and transparent crypto trading environment in the UK.

What impacts could stronger regulation have on the crypto industry?

Stronger regulation could reinforce market integrity, attract more institutional investors due to increased confidence, and promote innovation within a structured and safeguarded environment, thereby driving broader acceptance of cryptocurrencies.

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Over the past 24 hours, the crypto market has shown strong momentum across multiple dimensions. The mainstream discussion has focused on Coinbase's official entry into the prediction market through the acquisition of The Clearing Company, as well as the intense controversy within the AAVE community regarding token incentives and governance rights.

In terms of ecosystem development, Solana has introduced the innovative Kora fee layer aimed at reducing user transaction costs; meanwhile, the Perp DEX competition has intensified, with the showdown between Hyperliquid and Lighter sparking widespread community discussion on the future of decentralized derivatives.

I. Mainstream Topics

1. Coinbase Acquires The Clearing Company, Officially Entering Prediction Market

This week, Coinbase announced the acquisition of The Clearing Company, marking another significant move to deepen its presence in this field after last week's announcement of launching a prediction market on its platform.

The Clearing Company's founder, Toni Gemayel, and the team will join Coinbase to jointly drive the development of the prediction market business.

Coinbase's Product Lead, Shan Aggarwal, stated that the growth of the prediction market is still in its early stages and predicts that 2026 will be the breakout year for this field.

The community has reacted positively to this, generally believing that Coinbase's entry will bring significant traffic and compliance advantages to the prediction market. However, this has also sparked discussions about the industry's competitive landscape.

Jai Bhavnani, Founder of Rivalry, commented that for startups, if their product model proves to be successful, industry giants like Coinbase have ample reason to replicate it.

This serves as a reminder to all entrepreneurs in the crypto space that they must build significant moats to withstand competition pressure from these giants.

2. Kalshi Launches Kalshi Research and Integrates BSC Network

Regulated prediction market platform Kalshi launched its research arm, Kalshi Research, this week, aimed at opening its internal data to the academic community and researchers to facilitate exploration of prediction market-related topics.

Its inaugural research report highlights Kalshi's outperformance in predicting inflation compared to Wall Street's traditional models. Kalshi co-founder Luana Lopes Lara commented that the power of prediction markets lies in the valuable data they generate, and it is now time to better utilize this data.

Meanwhile, Kalshi announced its support for the BNB Chain (BSC), allowing users to deposit and withdraw BNB and USDT via the BSC network.

This move is seen as a significant step for Kalshi to open its platform to a broader crypto user base, aiming to unlock access to the world's largest prediction market. Furthermore, Kalshi also revealed plans to host the first Prediction Market Summit in 2026 to further drive industry engagement and development.

3. AAVE Token Incentive Controversy Persists as Founders and Whales Increase Holdings Against the Market Trend

The AAVE community recently engaged in heated debates around an Aave Improvement Proposal (AIP) titled "AAVE Tokenomics Alignment Phase One - Ownership Governance," aiming to transfer ownership and control of the Aave brand from Aave Labs to Aave DAO.

Aave founder Stani Kulechov publicly stated his intention to vote against the proposal, believing it oversimplifies the complex legal and operational structure, potentially slowing down the development process of core products like Aave V4.

The community's reaction was polarized. Some criticized Stani for adopting a "double standard" in governance and questioned whether his team had siphoned off protocol revenue, while others supported his cautious stance, arguing that significant governance changes require more thorough discussion.

This controversy highlights the tension between the ideal of DAO governance in DeFi projects and the actual power held by core development teams.

Despite governance disputes putting pressure on the AAVE token price, on-chain data shows that Stani Kulechov himself has purchased millions of dollars' worth of AAVE in the past few hours.

Simultaneously, a whale address, 0xDDC4, which had been quiet for 6 months, once again spent 500 ETH (approximately $1.53 million) to purchase 9,629 AAVE tokens. Data indicates that this whale has accumulated nearly 40,000 AAVE over the past year but is currently in an unrealized loss position.

The founder and whale's increased holdings during market volatility were interpreted by some investors as a confidence signal in AAVE's long-term value.

4. Top Articles: DeFi Curators and Ethereum Annual Summary

In this week's top article, Morpho Labs' "Curator Explained" detailed the role of "curators" in DeFi.

The article likened curators to asset managers in traditional finance, who design, deploy, and manage on-chain vaults, providing users with a one-click diversified investment portfolio.

Unlike traditional fund managers, DeFi curators execute strategies automatically through non-custodial smart contracts, allowing users to maintain full control of their assets. The article offered a new perspective on the specialization and risk management in the DeFi space.

Another widely circulated article, "Ethereum 2025: From Experiment to Global Infrastructure," provided a comprehensive summary of Ethereum's development over the past year. The article noted that 2025 is a crucial year for Ethereum's transition from an experimental project to global financial infrastructure. Through the Pectra and Fusaka hard forks, Ethereum achieved significant reductions in account abstraction and transaction costs.

Furthermore, the SEC's clarification of Ethereum's "non-securities" nature and the launch of tokenized funds on the Ethereum mainnet by traditional financial giants like JPMorgan marked Ethereum's gaining recognition from mainstream institutions. The article suggested that whether it is the continued growth of DeFi, the thriving L2 ecosystem, or the integration with the AI field, Ethereum's vision as the "world computer" is gradually becoming a reality.

II. Mainstream Ecosystem Updates

1. Solana: Launches Kora Fee Layer and propAMM Data Research

The Solana Foundation engineering team released a fee layer solution called Kora this week.

Kora is a fee relayer and signatory node designed to provide the Solana ecosystem with a more flexible transaction fee payment method. Through Kora, users will be able to achieve gas-free transactions or choose to pay network fees using any stablecoin or SPL token. This innovation is seen as an important step in lowering the barrier of entry for new users and improving Solana network's availability.

Additionally, a deep research report on propAMM (proactive market maker) sparked community interest. The report's data analysis of propAMMs on Solana like HumidiFi indicated that Solana has achieved, or even surpassed, the level of transaction execution quality in traditional finance (TradFi) markets.

For example, on the SOL-USDC trading pair, HumidiFi is able to provide a highly competitive spread for large trades (0.4-1.6 bps), which is already better than the trading slippage of some mid-cap stocks in traditional markets.

Research suggests that propAMM is making the vision of the "Internet Capital Market" a reality, with Solana emerging as the prime venue for all of this to happen.

2. Perp DEX: Hyperliquid vs. Lighter Competition Intensifies

The competition in the perpetual contract DEX (Perp DEX) space is becoming increasingly heated.

In its latest official article, Hyperliquid has positioned its emerging competitor, Lighter, alongside centralized exchanges like Binance, referring to it as a platform utilizing a centralized sequencer. Hyperliquid emphasizes its transparency advantage of being "fully on-chain, operated by a validator network, and with no hidden state."

The community widely interprets this as Hyperliquid declaring "war" on Lighter. The technical differences between the two platforms have also become a focal point of discussion: Hyperliquid focuses on ultimate on-chain transparency, while Lighter emphasizes achieving "verifiable execution" through zero-knowledge proofs to provide users with a Central Limit Order Book (CLOB)-like trading experience.

This battle over the future direction of decentralized derivatives exchanges is expected to peak in 2026.

Meanwhile, discussions about Lighter's trading fees have surfaced. Some users have pointed out that Lighter charged as much as 81 basis points (0.81%) for a $2 million USD/JPY forex trade, far exceeding the near-zero spreads of traditional forex brokers.

Some argue that Lighter does not follow a B-book model that bets against market makers, instead anchoring its prices to the TradFi market, and the high fees may be related to the current liquidity or market maker balance incentives. Providing a more competitive spread for real-world assets (RWA) in the highly volatile crypto market is a key issue Lighter will need to address in the future.