Hyperliquid whale losses near $100M after Bitcoin dips below $105K

A Hyperliquid trader known as James Wynn has seen his Bitcoin long bets on the platform liquidated for almost $100 million after Bitcoin dipped below $105,000. 

Wynn had made two significant long leveraged positions on Bitcoin betting that the cryptocurrency’s price would rise, but onchain data shows those positions were liquidated to the tune of $99.3 million on May 30 as BTC fell to a 10-day low.

The first position of 527.29 BTC worth $55.3 million was liquidated as Bitcoin hit $104,950, and the second position of 421.8 BTC worth $43.9 million was closed after Bitcoin sank to $104,150, according to the Hyperliquid analytics platform Hypurrscan.

On May 29, another of Wynn’s positions of 94 BTC worth $10 million was liquidated at $106,330. 

In total, the positions saw 949 BTC liquidated, and Arkham Intelligence and Lookonchain both noted that Wynn has lost almost $100 million over the past week.

James Wynn liquidation transactions. Source: Arkham Intelligence

Bitcoin prices wicked down to $104,630 on Coinbase during early trading on May 30, according to TradingView, but its price has dropped lower on other trading platforms. 

Wynn increased his 40x leverage long Bitcoin bet to $1.25 billion on May 24, but took a hit when the asset tumbled following more talk of tariffs from US President Donald Trump.

Wynn reacted to the liquidation with a cryptic post on X, sharing a screenshot from the 1999 sci-fi classic The Matrix, where the main character Neo, played by Keanu Reeves, stops bullets in mid-air.

He still has the 40x leveraged long position open in a perpetual contract, according to Hypurrscan. The long bet was opened when Bitcoin was at $107,993 and is currently at an unrealized loss of $3.4 million.

Source: Hypurrsan

An “extreme degenerate” 

James Wynn first gained widespread attention for his memecoin picks, particularly with his investment in the Pepe memecoin, which garnered him millions in gains.

On May 29, before the big liquidation, he described himself as an “extreme degenerate” taking on high-risk leverage trades, adding that he stands to lose everything. 

“I do not follow proper risk management, nor do I claim to be a professional; if anything, I claim to be lucky. I’m effectively gambling. And I stand to lose everything. I strongly advise people against what I’m doing!”