Shorts lose $4.94 million in 45 days, "PIPPIN's" mysterious small K-line is being drained by funding rates.

A short position held for 45 days, with an unrealized loss of $2.843 million, which, after including funding costs, totals a loss of $4.945 million. Behind this number is a classic contract trap—when negative funding rates become the norm, holding the position itself becomes a bleeding process.

The Scene of Extreme Losses

According to the latest news, PIPPIN’s short trader “Mysterious Little K Line” has been holding the position for 45 days since opening on November 22, 2024. This is not a short-term trial-and-error, but a long-term trap.

Breakdown of Loss Components

This means that this short position is not only repeatedly beaten in price but is also being continuously drained by daily funding costs.

Price Fluctuations and Holding Pressure

During these 45 days, PIPPIN experienced intense volatility—once dropping to $0.35, seemingly giving the shorts a breather, but then rebounding to $0.4883. More importantly, since November 30, PIPPIN has spent most of the time in a negative funding rate environment.

What does this mean? A negative funding rate requires shorts to pay longs. When a coin remains in a negative rate for a long time, short holders are being “drained” every day.

The Hidden Killer of Funding Rate Mechanism

Based on market observations, the calculation formula for altcoin funding costs is: Funding Cost = Position Value × Funding Rate.

For altcoins like PIPPIN, controlled by major players, the market maker can manipulate the spot holdings to artificially widen the gap between perpetual contract prices and spot prices, thus maintaining high funding rates. As a result:

• Longs hold on stubbornly due to optimism about a rebound
• Shorts bleed out due to betting on a decline

This is the fate of “Mysterious Little K Line”—not yet at the most desperate level of unrealized loss, but the accumulated funding costs have already become a second “unrealized loss.”

Recent Market Context: Altcoin Rally

According to the latest news, after Bitcoin rebounded past $91,000 on January 4, altcoins surged across the board. PIPPIN, in particular, rose over 26% in 24 hours, currently trading around $0.486.

This rebound is both an opportunity and a torment for “Mysterious Little K Line”—a price bounce means unrealized losses continue to grow, but it also opens a window for closing the position. Continuing to hold means every day of negative funding eats into profit margins.

The Truth About Altcoin Contracts

Market observations reveal a harsh reality: avoid altcoin contracts, especially avoid holding contracts. The fees you pay to the market maker are directly taken from your principal. If you encounter a conscientious market maker, you might get a small slice; if you face a malicious one, it could lead to a double blow—both long and short positions getting wrecked.

PIPPIN is a prime example—it’s not necessarily that the price will fall, but that the major players have many ways to harvest traders through fees, price gaps, liquidity manipulation, and more.

Summary

The $4.945 million loss teaches us several realities:

1. The longer the holding period, the greater the fee risk—a 45-day hold means funding costs nearly equal unrealized losses.
2. Negative funding rates are not signals, but traps—they indicate the market structure is already against you.
3. Altcoin contracts are high-risk games—major players can harvest through multiple dimensions; simply watching price is not enough.
4. Discipline in stop-loss is more important than you think—early stop-loss could have significantly reduced losses.

For retail traders, the lesson is not “never short,” but rather “don’t hold on stubbornly in structurally suppressed assets.” When funding rates stay negative, the market is clearly telling you: this environment is not suitable for shorts.