Why would a short account earning $81 million a year still pursue short positions on the soaring PEPE?

There is always a certain type of account in the crypto market that, while most are chasing gains, they are instead building short positions. The “Shanzhai Air Force Leader” is such an entity. According to the latest news, this well-known short account has been gradually accumulating PEPE short positions amid the recent sharp rise of PEPE. Even more astonishing is that its profit for the year has reached $81 million, making it one of the most profitable trading accounts in the current market.

The Logic Behind Shorting the Rising Coins

Continuous Position Building Rhythm

The “Shanzhai Air Force Leader” has a distinctive trading style. According to Coinbob monitoring data, in the past 2 hours, this account has again been gradually building PEPE short positions, with a current holding of about $120,000 at an average price of $0.007. This is not a one-time large short but a strategy of phased, incremental position building.

What signals does this approach convey? On one hand, it indicates that the account owner has a clear judgment on PEPE’s future trend; on the other hand, gradual position building can reduce market impact from single large trades and respond more flexibly to price fluctuations.

Benchmarking PEPE’s Market Performance

As a Meme coin, PEPE has performed remarkably recently. Data shows that PEPE has increased by 64.61% over the past 7 days and 9.36% in the last 24 hours. Such gains could be seen as a potential for a correction by any rational trader. The fact that “Shanzhai Air Force Leader” is building short positions at this time suggests they may be betting that this rally is nearing its top.

The True Face of the Account

Risk Management of Multi-Asset Holdings

“Shanzhai Air Force Leader” is not only shorting PEPE. According to monitoring data, since November, this account has held over 20 different altcoins, with total holdings increasing from $20 million to $40.7 million. Among them, the largest short position is in LIT, reaching $11.2 million, with an average price of $2.7. Currently, it is the largest short on Hyperliquid platform for LIT, ASTER, and UNI.

This diversified holding approach reflects the characteristics of a mature trading account: not betting all chips on a single coin, but using a multi-asset short portfolio to spread risk and improve win rate.

Where Does the $81 Million Profit This Year Come From?

What does this performance tell us? The account has a keen sense of market direction. Between late 2024 and early 2025, many altcoins experienced significant corrections, and this account successfully captured the downtrend through continuous short positions.

Insights from Long vs. Short Strategies

Also in November, another whale account was competing with “Shanzhai Air Force Leader,” adopting a “long a basket of altcoins” strategy. The result? This long position account suffered a loss of over $42.7 million this year, with total holdings shrinking from about $25 million to $2.33 million.

This creates a stark contrast:

• Short account (“Shanzhai Air Force Leader”): $81 million profit, expanding holdings
• Long account (“Long a basket of altcoins”): $42.7 million loss, shrinking holdings

It shows that in the current market environment, choosing the right direction is more important than position size.

Market Insights at Present

“Shanzhai Air Force Leader” still shorts PEPE during its big rally, and the logic behind this warrants reflection. Meme coins’ price movements often lack fundamental support and are driven purely by sentiment. When the rally has already been substantial, continuing to short may be a bet on a market sentiment reversal.

However, it’s important to note that although this account has performed excellently this year, the market’s upward movement on the day still narrowed its unrealized gains by about $800,000. This demonstrates that even the smartest traders cannot completely avoid short-term volatility.

Summary

The $81 million annual profit of “Shanzhai Air Force Leader” stems from accurate market judgment and strict risk management. Through diversified holdings and phased position building, this account has gained substantial returns in the altcoin short market. The massive losses of the long position account further confirm how crucial it is to choose the correct trading direction during specific market cycles. Of course, past success does not guarantee future profits; markets are always unpredictable. These whale operations more serve as a perspective for us to observe and understand market dynamics.