HomeLatest NewsSmart money, whales net short ahead of Citigroup $4,000 gold call

Smart money, whales net short ahead of Citigroup $4,000 gold call

Posted: 9 June 2026, 20:03 CET 2 min read

Large traders held net short positions in perpetual swaps, GLD options and futures ahead of Citigroup cutting its three-month gold target to $4,000 from $4,300 on June 8.

Large traders including so-called smart-money accounts and whale traders held net short positions across crypto perpetual swaps, ETF options and regulated futures ahead of Citigroup’s June 8 note reducing its three-month gold target to $4,000 from $4,300.

On the Hyperliquid platform the combined smart-money and whale cohorts held about $18.8 million in net short positions in gold perpetual swaps. Smart-money accounts were short roughly $6.3 million and whale accounts were short about $12.5 million. The largest short positions were opened in the $4,560–$4,880 range and were showing unrealized profit at the time of the bank’s revision.

Perpetual funding rates were positive and elevated, at an annualized rate near 5.47%, meaning traders holding long positions were paying shorts to maintain their positions.

Options activity on the SPDR Gold Shares ETF (GLD) showed more put contracts traded than calls. The put-call volume ratio rose to about 1.13 from roughly 0.64, while an open interest ratio moved from near 0.55 to about 0.59, indicating greater buildup in put positions versus calls.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Commitments of Traders report for the week to June 2 recorded total open interest in gold futures falling by 27,437 contracts to 326,052. Large speculators trimmed their short positions while adding a modest number of longs. Commercial hedgers remained net short at 260,196 contracts versus 53,851 long positions.

Citigroup cited expectations of higher U.S. interest rates as the reason for lowering its near-term price target. At the time, the U.S. Treasury yield curve had the 30-year yield near 5% and the 10-year around 4.55%. Commodity ratios cited by market participants included a gold-silver ratio near 63.6 and a gold-oil ratio near 48.4.

Data from perpetual swap books, ETF options and the regulated futures market showed reduced long exposure and increased short exposure among large traders in the weeks before Citigroup’s note.