This crypto trader just lost $100M, but he’s still not done

The $100-million fall: James Wynn and the perils of crypto leverage

Within the unstable area of cryptocurrency buying and selling, the saga of James Wynn, a dealer on the decentralized trade (DEX) Hyperliquid, illustrates each the joy and dangers related to it. 

In late Might 2025, Wynn suffered practically $100 million in liquidations after Bitcoin (BTC) dropped beneath $105,000. His daring leveraged bets collapsed swiftly, erasing an unlimited fortune. Bitcoin’s excessive volatility, oscillating between hovering peaks and steep declines, underscores the promise and threat of excessive leverage. 

Regardless of the extreme losses, Wynn remained steadfast, sustaining vital leveraged positions with substantial unrealized losses. His ongoing involvement in dangerous ventures highlights the robust psychological attraction of cryptocurrency buying and selling, the place distinguishing between sensible technique and recklessness will be troublesome.

Wynn, an nameless dealer, gained a repute as a high-risk crypto dealer as a consequence of his exceptionally massive cryptocurrency investments and dangerous methods of crypto buying and selling. He steadily held positions valued at over $100 million, and his social media usually displayed screenshots of spectacular earnings.

Do you know? Some crypto exchanges supply leverage as much as 125x. This implies a $1,000 deposit can management a $125,000 place — however with large threat. Only a 1% worth transfer in opposition to the commerce can wipe out the whole place in seconds.

Chronology of Wynn’s $100-million Bitcoin liquidation

The next part outlines the important thing occasions resulting in Wynn’s large $99.3-million liquidation on Hyperliquid. This chronology traces the fast unraveling of his extremely leveraged positions:

Might 24, 2025 

• Wynn opens a large 40x leveraged lengthy place on Bitcoin, valued at $1.25 billion. 
• Entry worth for this place: $107,993 per BTC.

Might 29, 2025 (first liquidation) 

• Wynn’s earlier place of 94 BTC value $10 million is liquidated at $106,330, marking the beginning of his liquidation spiral. 
• Round this time, Wynn posts on X, calling himself an “excessive degenerate” and acknowledging the high-risk nature of his technique. 

Might 30, 2025 (main liquidations) 

• Bitcoin’s worth dips sharply following market uncertainty, together with US President Donald Trump’s tariff feedback. 
• The primary main liquidation occurs: 527.29 BTC value $55.3 million is liquidated when Bitcoin falls to $104,950. 
• The second main liquidation occurs: 421.8 BTC value $43.9 million is liquidated as Bitcoin drops additional to $104,150.

Whole liquidations and losses 

• Collectively, 949 BTC was liquidated throughout these positions. 
• The overall loss for Wynn was roughly $99.3 million over the week. 

Publish-liquidation standing on Might 26, 2025 

• Wynn pronounces on X that he’s quitting the “on line casino” after a very good “gamble.”

Dethective exposes Wynn 

• On June 14, 2025, crypto analyst Dethective alleges Wynn wasn’t actually incurring losses however somewhat buying and selling in opposition to his personal positions. Based on Dethective, the determine was a peak unrealized revenue, a short lived quantity on paper, not precise money. “He had an unrealized revenue of $90 million at one second through the day,” he explains, emphasizing that this was by no means locked in as actual revenue.

How Wynn’s crypto gamble proved expensive

After choosing up the whopping lack of $100 million, Wynn alleged that the market was being manipulated in opposition to him and went interesting to his followers for donations, hoping to get well the thousands and thousands he misplaced in only one week. 

Regardless of incomes $85 million earlier via high-leverage trades, Wynn noticed $12 million vanish inside a couple of days. In Might, he suffered losses of $100 million, and his positions have been liquidated once more in early June, rising his losses for the month to over $25 million.

Wynn’s journey from opening $1-billion positions with 40x leverage on Bitcoin to shedding $100 million displays Warren Buffett’s well-known warning about leverage. In a CNBC interview, Buffett quoted his late associate Charlie Munger, saying, “There are solely 3 ways a sensible individual can go broke: liquor, girls and leverage.” Buffett additionally emphasised, “If you happen to don’t have leverage, you don’t get in hassle. If you happen to’re sensible, you don’t want it; in case you’re dumb, you shouldn’t use it.”

Leverage buying and selling in crypto has grow to be a controversial subject, with some platforms providing as much as 125x leverage on digital belongings. Wynn admitted that the stress from public consideration distorted his decision-making. “With all this new consideration, the buying and selling spiraled uncontrolled. I used to be principally playing. I bought grasping and stopped taking the numbers severely,” he mentioned.

Following Wynn’s liquidation, Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao proposed introducing a darkish pool DEX, which refers to exchanges that don’t present the order guide or deposits into sensible contracts. Such data could possibly be hidden utilizing zero-knowledge proofs or comparable encryptions.

Based on Zhao, hiding massive orders from real-time order books might scale back front-running and slippage, providing massive merchants extra privateness and equity throughout unstable markets.

How Wynn embodies crypto’s high-risk, high-reward ethos

Wynn is well-known inside crypto buying and selling circles for his high-risk methods. His fast rise started with a daring $7,000 funding within the Pepe (PEPE) memecoin, which grew to just about $25 million at its peak in 2025, incomes him a repute as a talented and risk-taking dealer. 

Wynn’s vital good points inspired him to pursue even riskier trades, together with leveraged positions on platforms like Hyperliquid. His buying and selling type displays the daring method he usually demonstrates in speculative areas of the crypto market. Simply hours earlier than his $99.3-million Bitcoin liquidation on Might 30, 2025, Wynn posted on X:

“I don’t comply with correct threat administration, nor do I declare to be an expert; if something, I declare to be fortunate. I’m successfully playing. And I stand to lose every part. I strongly advise folks in opposition to what I’m doing!”

This admission highlights the playing mindset that drives many high-leverage merchants. Regardless of dealing with large dangers, such merchants stay drawn to market volatility, chasing extraordinary returns whereas absolutely conscious of the potential for heavy losses. 

Wynn’s continued buying and selling after vital setbacks displays a broader crypto tradition the place risk-takers stability between nice success and sudden failure. His story displays the dynamics of a market the place there’s a robust chance of seeing your fortunes vanish or making vital good points immediately.

Do you know? In contrast to conventional inventory markets, Bitcoin trades across the clock, day-after-day of the yr. This continuous market means merchants should monitor worth actions always or use automated bots to keep away from lacking main strikes throughout off-hours.

Function of macroeconomic uncertainty in Wynn’s $100-million Bitcoin liquidation

Exterior macroeconomic occasions added stress to Wynn’s place. Renewed issues over US tariff insurance policies underneath President Trump created sudden financial uncertainty, impacting threat belongings like Bitcoin.

As markets reacted to Trump’s tariff insurance policies and associated commerce measures, Bitcoin’s worth fell sharply. Round Might 23, 2025, Bitcoin dropped roughly 4%, falling to $106,700 from about $111,000 shortly after the announcement, triggering Wynn’s liquidation. This demonstrates how weak leveraged trades are to broader financial shifts, the place even small coverage adjustments can result in main monetary losses for overexposed merchants.

When Wynn’s $100-million liquidation occurred, crypto markets have been rattled by macroeconomic uncertainty. Analysts, like Pav Hundal of Swyftx, flagged US President Trump’s tariff rhetoric as a key threat catalyst, exerting downward stress on threat belongings, together with Bitcoin.

As commerce tensions intensified and discuss of tariffs resurfaced, digital-asset markets shed 4%-6%, rising the vulnerability of leveraged positions.

Wynn’s case illustrates the twin nature of leverage. Whereas it may possibly result in fast wealth, it additionally leaves merchants open to fast, extreme losses, particularly throughout occasions of geopolitical or financial instability.

Do you know? In Might 2021, Bitcoin briefly crashed by 30% inside hours as a consequence of a mixture of liquidations and panic promoting. Such flash crashes are widespread in crypto and are amplified by excessive leverage and skinny liquidity on some exchanges.

Wynn accused of market manipulation in self-countered trades on Hyperliquid

On June 14, 2025, crypto analyst Dethective revealed an X submit, allegedly exposing Wynn as somebody who was counter-trading in opposition to himself and never struggling the losses he was claiming. He said that Wynn’s narrative was simply advertising to achieve extra followers whom he might monetize later.

The analyst examined blockchain information and recognized uncommon exercise concerning Wynn’s buying and selling. 

Initially, Wynn’s transactions have been typical of a serious investor. He made massive Bitcoin purchases with excessive leverage. Nevertheless, Dethective observed an irregularity: Wynn was buying and selling in opposition to himself on Hyperliquid. 

Wynn was concurrently inserting equal-sized lengthy and quick positions on Bitcoin, balancing wins and losses with every market shift. Dethective shared this discovery on X, posting: 

This revelation eroded belief. Beforehand impressed by Wynn’s massive trades, retail buyers started questioning his motives. His repute suffered as doubts arose: Was he a real market influencer or manipulating perceptions? Dethective’s findings uncovered the reality.

How crypto merchants can defend themselves from FOMO

Crypto merchants can safeguard in opposition to FOMO (concern of lacking out) and greed by adopting disciplined buying and selling practices. Devising a well-thought-out buying and selling plan and diversifying your investments may also help.

It’s worthwhile to create a transparent buying and selling plan with particular entry and exit factors and comply with it whereas preserving market pleasure at bay. Utilizing stop-loss and take-profit orders helps scale back emotional selections throughout market fluctuations. Spreading investments throughout a number of belongings, somewhat than specializing in one, lowers the chance of serious losses from impulsive trades. 

Recurrently reviewing one’s portfolio and efficiency promotes accountability and discourages reckless actions. Merchants ought to keep away from extreme leverage, which magnifies earnings and losses, usually resulting in emotional overtrading.

Studying about market psychology and figuring out FOMO triggers can construct emotional energy. Withdrawing from fixed market monitoring at common intervals and avoiding social media hype may also help keep clear pondering. Merchants could make extra considerate and sustainable selections by prioritizing long-term targets over short-term investments.