As Americans head to the polls for the midterm election today, a mysterious trader bet millions of dollars on oil ahead of voting. President Donald Trump's second term is nearing two years an
As Americans head to the polls for the midterm election today, a mysterious trader bet millions of dollars on oil ahead of voting.
President Donald Trump's second term is nearing two years and the Nov. 3 election will be a key test of his popularity. Voters are most concerned about the rising cost of living as food and fuel prices are soaring due to the war with Iran.
Since the transportation of most goods and services depends on oil, a surge in its price has led to the prices of everyday goods soaring. The Trump administration is therefore under pressure to end the war that began in late February.
The election results will decide who controls the House and Senate for the final two years of Trump's second term. All 435 seats in the House of Representatives are up, along with 35 of the 100 Senate seats. Voters in 36 states will also pick governors.
Related: Treasury Secretary Bessent drops a new bombshell on Iran
U.S. officials said the United States conducted a series of limited strikes on Iran's Qeshm Island on Nov. 2 as Trump touted the possibility of a diplomatic deal. A senior Iranian official said both countries were far from reaching a deal to end the war, and Tehran would not accept Washington's "excessive demands."
As per a report, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pushed for another wave of strikes on Iran after the midterm elections. Neither Netanyahu's Likud party nor his primary opponent Gadi Eisenkot's Yashar party has secured a clear majority in the recently concluded national election and a return to a full-scale war with Iran could help Netanyahu form an emergency government.
Military roundtable: Heckman, Rayburn, Spencer assess Iran stalemate and oil-driven market impact (6:51)U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude and Brent crude futures had dropped more than 7% yesterday as talks between Iranian and Qatar officials lifted hopes for an end to the war. But the latest U.S. strikes on Iran lifted the prices of both benchmarks.
The WTI crude (December contract) was trading at $98.11 a barrel at the time of writing, up 1.72% in a day.
The Brent crude (January contract) was trading at $106.50 a barrel at the time of writing, up 1.68% in a day.
The U.S.-Israel war against Iran began with the assassination of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Feb. 28. Since then, the prices of both oil benchmarks have soared more than 45%.
As the U.S. heads to the polls, a mysterious trader bought over $147 million worth of oil contracts on Hyperliquid.
Though crypto wallet addresses are public, the names behind them remain anonymous. That is why such a crypto trader is also called a "mysterious trader" because their identity remains hidden.
Mysterious traders tend to make big bets ahead of major announcements, such as the election, the Federal Reserve's announcements, trade deal announcements, etc.
The trader buying oil contracts ahead of the Nov. 3 election chose Hyperliquid, a decentralized crypto exchange offering high-leverage perpetual futures trading of cryptocurrencies, commodities, and tokenized stocks.
The blockchain-based exchange has gained immense popularity among oil traders following the Iran war because it lets them speculate on prices 24/7, including on holidays and weekends.
Source: HypurrscanAs per the onchain analytics platform Lookonchain, the mysterious trader opened tenfold leveraged long positions worth $91 million in Brent and $56 million in WTI crude futures on Nov. 2.
The trader's long positions reflect an anticipation that oil prices will soar in the days following the midterm election on Nov. 3. After the latest U.S. strike on Iran, nobody can rule out the possibility of an escalation which means oil prices could surge further.
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