The Federal Reserve is expected to hold rates steady at the June FOMC meeting, but crypto whales aren't taking any chances. Across three major altcoins — Chainlink, Uniswap, and Ondo Finance — large holders are pairing spot accumulation with short positions on perpetual swaps, a strategy that hedges against near-term downside even as they build long-term exposure.
Chainlink whales add to spot positions
Between June 12 and June 18, Chainlink (LINK) whale spot balances rose from 664.2 million to 668.18 million tokens — an addition of roughly 4 million LINK worth about $33 million. The number of wallets holding at least 1 LINK hit 535,650, the highest level since 2022. The moves come after FIFA’s prediction-market partner adopted Chainlink as its exclusive oracle and the DTCC integrated Chainlink’s data standard for a collateral platform.
But the spot buying is paired with a bearish bet on derivatives. All three whale cohorts tracked by Nansen have turned net short on LINK perpetuals over the past two days. Smart money shorts are already in profit, while the largest whale long is down roughly $1.3 million.
Uniswap sees spot sell-off alongside short bets
Uniswap (UNI) tells a different spot story. Whale balances fell from 780.50 million to 778.53 million tokens between June 15 and June 18 — a drop of about 2 million UNI. The price surged around 23% in a single day after Standard Chartered issued a $100 price target and new tokenized stocks were announced.
Yet whales and smart money on Nansen have moved net short on UNI perpetuals over the past week. Smart money holds about 95% of its exposure short. One whale short opened near $8 is up roughly $688,000, while a $1.4 million long entered at $6.37 is trapped below the mark.
Ondo Finance accumulation continues despite short pressure
Ondo Finance (ONDO) whale spot supply climbed from 7.82 billion to 7.9 billion tokens between June 13 and June 18 — an addition of about 80 million ONDO. Ondo leads the tokenized treasuries sector with total value locked near $3.7 billion and recently hired an ETF veteran to build on-chain portfolios. Standard Chartered has projected a $2.7 trillion DeFi market by 2030.
On Hyperliquid, whales, smart money, and public figures are all net short on ONDO perpetuals, with a combined short of roughly $2.56 million and only one visible long. Shorts cluster between $0.38 and $0.54. ONDO is up about 7% on the week, suggesting the potential for a short squeeze.
A common hedging play ahead of the FOMC
The pattern is consistent across all three tokens: whales are pairing spot accumulation in LINK and ONDO (or spot selling in UNI) with short positions on perpetual swaps. It’s a classic hedge against near-term downside ahead of the Fed’s decision. New Fed Chair Kevin Warsh’s tone could shift market sentiment even if the rate itself doesn’t change.
The FOMC decision arrives next week. Whether those short hedges pay off or get squeezed depends on how markets read Warsh’s first policy statement.
