- Bitcoin plunged below $105K, triggering the liquidation of nearly $100M in leveraged positions held by Hyperliquid trader James Wynn.
- His high-risk bets unraveled as the market turned, wiping out massive gains made from earlier crypto rallies.
Bitcoin’s sharp decline below the $105,000 mark on May 30 sent shockwaves through the crypto market—and dealt a devastating blow to one of Hyperliquid’s most aggressive traders. James Wynn, a well-known figure in the high-stakes crypto community, suffered massive losses totaling nearly $99.3 million as two of his heavily leveraged long Bitcoin positions were liquidated.
According to data from analytics platform Hypurrscan, Wynn’s first position of 527.29 BTC, worth $55.3 million, was force-liquidated when Bitcoin dropped to $104,150. A second position of 421.8 BTC, valued at $43.9 million, was also closed out under similar pressure.
Also read: SOL Strategies to Raise $1 Billion for Major Solana (SOL) Investment Push
Wynn had previously cashed out 94 BTC, worth around $10 million, when Bitcoin was trading at $106,330—a move that may have softened the blow, but only slightly.
The scale of liquidation caught the attention of Arkham Intelligence and Lookonchain, who flagged that over 949 BTC in total had been liquidated from Wynn’s accounts. His losses last week alone are estimated to approach $100 million, cementing his place as one of the biggest individual losers in recent Bitcoin volatility.
Wynn had previously drawn attention with a massive $1.25 billion leveraged long position at 40x leverage, placed on May 24. But the market turned against him, with Bitcoin tumbling after former President Donald Trump reignited fears of tariffs—a macro move that rippled across risk assets.
In a cryptic post on X following the liquidation, Wynn shared a screenshot from The Matrix showing Neo stopping bullets mid-air—perhaps a nod to his continued trading activity despite the loss. Hypurrscan confirms he still holds a 40x long perpetual contract opened at $107,993, now carrying an unrealized loss of $3.4 million.
Known for flipping $3 million into $27.5 million during a prior crypto rally, and for early gains in memecoins like PEPE, Wynn’s ultra-risky style has earned him the label of an “extreme degenerate” by some. But in the world of crypto whales, the fall can be as swift as the rise.
