Trader bets millions against S&P 500, gets wiped out in seconds

Trader bets millions against S&P 500, gets wiped out in seconds

Fri, September 18, 2026 at 2:57 AM GMT+3 2 min read

• ^GSPC +0.17%

• HYPE32196-USD +5.81%

An anonymous trader known only by their wallet address 0x3bca had their $7.19 million short position on the S&P 500 fully liquidated on Hyperliquid as the broader market rebounded on Wednesday. The liquidation was tracked via onchain data on Hypurrscan.

A short position is a trade that profits when an asset's price falls. The trader was betting the S&P 500 would decline, and when it moved in the opposite direction, the position was forcibly closed at a loss.

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Liquidation happens when a leveraged trade moves far enough against the trader that the exchange automatically closes it to prevent further losses. Hyperliquid is a decentralized exchange that lets users trade perpetual contracts, derivatives that track an asset's price without an expiration date, on crypto, equities and commodities.

What the onchain trail shows

The Hypurrscan data shows the wallet held a total portfolio value of roughly $7.85 million at the time, with exposure to S&P 500, XYZ100, BTC and gold contracts. The transaction history reveals a flurry of activity in the seconds surrounding the liquidation, including multiple "Close Long" orders on Robinhood stock (xyz:HOOD) at $109.48 and fresh "Open Long" positions on BTC at approximately $76,568.

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The wallet was also executing a TWAP order on ZEC-USD worth roughly $63,780 at the time of the screenshot. A TWAP, or time-weighted average price strategy, spreads a trade across intervals to reduce market impact.

A broader pattern

The liquidation was first flagged by onchain tracker Lookonchain. It comes during a volatile stretch for leveraged traders, earlier this week, nearly 100,000 traders were liquidated across crypto markets for roughly $477 million after the CLARITY Act failed its Senate cloture vote.

The 0x3bca wipeout is a reminder that the same risk applies on equity-linked products traded through decentralized platforms.

Related: $480 million in crypto gets wiped out after CLARITY Act fails

This story was originally published by TheStreet on Sep 17, 2026, where it first appeared in the MARKETS section. Add TheStreet as a Preferred Source by clicking here.