A major cryptocurrency whale has injected millions in emergency capital to avoid the liquidation of a $300 million Ether (ETH) position on MakerDAO as the broader crypto market reels under fresh macroeconomic pressure.
According to blockchain analytics firm Lookonchain, the unidentified investor holds 220,000 ETH in collateral on MakerDAO, a leading decentralized finance (DeFi) lending protocol. With ETH prices tumbling to $1,504 following a 14% drop on April 6, the position teetered dangerously close to liquidation. The whale swiftly deposited 10,000 ETH (worth approximately $14.5 million) and 3.54 million Dai (DAI) to raise the liquidation threshold and maintain the leveraged position.
“If ETH dips to $1,119.3, the entire 220,000 ETH — valued at roughly $340 million — will be liquidated,”
Lookonchain noted in an April 7 post on X. The investor has already incurred substantial losses, having shed over 67,000 ETH due to the sharp price decline.
MakerDAO enforces an over-collateralization model, typically requiring at least $150 worth of ETH for every $100 borrowed in DAI, adding to the pressure as markets continue to slide.
Data from CoinGlass shows that more than 446,000 positions were liquidated in the past 24 hours alone, with total losses topping $1.36 billion. Of that, $1.21 billion were long positions, and $152 million were shorts. The largest single liquidation was a $7 million Bitcoin (BTC) position on the OKX exchange.
The broader market instability follows a significant geopolitical trigger — U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement of reciprocal import tariffs on April 2. The news rattled global financial markets, resulting in a historic $5 trillion wipeout from the S&P 500 over just two days — its steepest drop on record, according to Tradingview data.
Nansen, a crypto analytics firm, also noted a 70% chance that the market could bottom by June, contingent on how tariff negotiations unfold.
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