Prominent trading firm Wintermute has adopted a heavily bearish position in cryptocurrency markets with 70% of its $123 million portfolio allocated to short bets against major digital assets. The strategy primarily targets altcoins while maintaining modest long exposures, signaling deep skepticism toward alternative cryptocurrencies amid ongoing volatility.
Wintermute’s largest long position is a $10.38 million Bitcoin investment leveraged 20x, currently yielding a 13.95% return. Its most profitable shorts have targeted memecoins and altcoins, including a 127.99% gain against Official Trump ($TRUMP) and a 78.11% profit from Ripple ($XRP) positions. Notably, the firm holds a $26.3 million short against Ethereum at 15x leverage, which is currently down 27.33%, alongside significant shorts against Solana and Curve DAO tokens.
This bearish stance contrasts sharply with broader derivatives market sentiment, where Bitcoin and Ethereum both maintain positive funding rates and substantial open interest—$79.55 billion for Bitcoin and $46.97 billion for Ethereum—indicating prevailing bullish sentiment among traders.
Wintermute’s strategy extends to aggressive shorting of retail-driven tokens like Fartcoin ($FARTCOIN) and Pump.fun ($PUMP), reflecting caution toward speculative assets. These small-cap tokens demonstrate significant market activity, with TRUMP commanding $368 million in open interest and FARTCOIN at $687 million, highlighting the polarization in current crypto market dynamics.