Zcash pushed through $1,200 on Sunday, and the largest short position betting against it is now deeply underwater. On-chain analyst EmberCN reported that a Hyperliquid wallet holding 32,760 ZEC short, opened in early July at an average entry near $444, carries roughly $25.7 million in unrealized losses as of a September 7 assessment. ZEC has gained about 170% against that entry price.
The position belongs to trader Garrett Jin, who has built a reputation on Hyperliquid for large, publicized directional bets. His two previous Zcash trades were both profitable, netting a combined $11.66 million, according to Lookonchain. The current short has not gone his way. ZEC’s market capitalization passed $20 billion as the price breached the $1,200 mark, up 16% in a day at one point alongside similar moves in dash and other privacy-focused coins.
How the position got here
Jin opened the short in early July when ZEC traded in the low hundreds. The thesis was straightforward: privacy coins had run hard through the summer and mean reversion would follow. Instead, the rally accelerated. Grayscale’s conversion of its Zcash trust into an exchange-traded product added a structural buyer, and retail interest followed the price action. EmberCN posted the running tally as ZEC printed above $1,200, noting the 32,760 ZEC short and the $444 average entry.
At 2x leverage, the position can absorb a further adverse move before liquidation becomes immediate, but the margin picture tightens with every dollar ZEC adds. Jin is also carrying a separate 1,268 BTC long opened near $76,117, which has been underwater by roughly $20 million at recent bitcoin prices near $80,000. The combined book leaves him exposed on both legs.
“ZEC has pushed past $1,200, and its largest short seller on Hyperliquid is sitting on a $25.7 million paper loss on a position opened at $444,” EmberCN’s posted tally read.
Why privacy coins are running
Zcash is not moving in isolation. Bitcoin cleared $81,000 over the weekend, the level that capped its rally since late August, and futures positioning turned bullish as ETF inflows kept building. US spot bitcoin ETFs drew $986.9 million last week, their third positive week in a row, with BlackRock’s IBIT absorbing $691.5 million of the total. Risk appetite across the board has lifted smaller caps hardest, and privacy coins have led that group. Zcash gained 16% and dash 19% in a single day.
The Grayscale conversion matters for more than flows. It gives US investors a regulated wrapper for ZEC exposure, the same mechanism that transformed demand for bitcoin and ether after their own ETF launches. Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan recently called bitcoin and zcash the assets to own for the next decade, a comment that circulated widely through crypto media over the weekend.
What happens to the short
Jin has not publicly commented on the position. Hyperliquid traders in his position typically have three options: add margin, close at a loss, or hold and hope for reversal. Short squeezes in low-float, high-narrative assets like ZEC tend to be violent, and forced buying from liquidated shorts can extend the rally further. The wallet’s activity will be watched closely; analysts including Lookonchain and Yujin track his moves as they happen.
The episode is also a reminder of how concentrated derivatives risk has become on decentralized exchanges. A single wallet carrying a $25 million-plus paper loss on one token, while simultaneously down $20 million on a bitcoin long, illustrates the scale of leveraged positioning that now sits on platforms like Hyperliquid. When these positions unwind, they move markets.
ZEC traded slightly below $1,200 in early Monday trading after touching the level overnight. Whether the short gets closed, hedged, or liquidated will depend on where the price goes this week. Jin’s track record suggests he is not a passive trader, but the math against him has rarely been this steep.
discussion