Crypto market makers are cashing in on bitcoin's rally - without betting on direction
Major crypto trading firms are utilizing a 'cash-and-carry' strategy to generate yield from bitcoin's rally without taking directional market risks. By holding spot assets while shorting perpetual futures, these firms capture funding rate premiums during bullish market phases.
Why it matters
This strategy illustrates how institutional players stabilize their returns in volatile crypto markets, providing insight into the mechanics of current digital asset liquidity.
Major crypto trading firms, including Abraxas Capital, Fasanara Capital, and Wintermute, have quietly built what onchain data shows are hundreds of millions of dollars in short perpetual futures positions on Hyperliquid, the onchain derivatives exchange. Collectively, the three firms hold short positions of 138,569 ETH (roughly $338 million) and 3,425 BTC (around $265 million), according to onchain data tracked by Lookonchain .
At the same time, Abraxas Capital has been pulling large amounts of spot crypto off centralized exchanges. On-chain data from Arkham Intelligence shows the firm withdrew 73,872 ETH — worth approximately $173 million — from Binance over the past four days alone.
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