Original｜Odaily Planet Daily (@OdailyChina)
No one expected that in just two weeks, the once "legendary trader" and crypto whale James Wynn, who had opened positions worth over $1 billion, would fall to a point where he could only open ant-sized positions worth a few hundred dollars. Previously, he had published a lengthy confession, lamenting how he went from "making $100 million" to losing everything, using himself as a cautionary tale to reveal the terrifying nature of "greed" to the market.
In this article, Odaily Planet Daily will delve into James Wynn's recent operations and statements, exploring whether "James Wynn is a white glove for the Hyperliquid platform."
For more about James, I recommend reading “Who is James Wynn: The Trading Genius from a Small Town, the Crazy Whale Betting $1 Billion”.
Calculating Everything Too Greedily, James's "On-Chain Life" Backfires
In the early hours of June 6, James Wynn's long position was forcibly liquidated again, resulting in a loss of 155.38 bitcoins, worth approximately $16.14 million at the time. On-chain data shows that this liquidation occurred during a significant drop in the BTC-USDT contract price, with a liquidation price of about $103,981. This round of forced liquidation may be related to the market's short-term volatility.
Perhaps this liquidation finally became the "last straw that broke the camel's back." That morning, James Wynn published a lengthy confession, sharing for the first time his rise to fame and current situation—
I started participating in perpetual contract trading in March of this year; I had never traded seriously before, at most just speculated on meme coins (previously known for discovering PEPE at a market cap of $600,000 and making an eight-figure profit). I rolled $3 million into $100 million in just one month, then lost it all in a week on HyperLiquid.
At that time, I was just playing around, but with on-chain data public, hundreds of thousands of people watched my account's wild fluctuations, so I just let myself go.
Eventually, things spiraled out of control.
I understood that this was essentially gambling; wanting to recover losses while fearing being mocked for "not being able to keep $100 million," I fell deeper and deeper.
The numbers on the screen became a virtual game, and greed completely took over.
After reading this, one can't help but feel a sense of regret. Previously, he had repeatedly stated that he would say goodbye to the contract market, but soon broke his promise and returned to the contract gambling table. As the market fluctuated after breaking new highs, and due to Trump's erratic policies and statements, James Wynn, like other crypto traders in the market, became the prey on the "big stage of the crypto world."
Indeed, this "sudden awakening" did not last long. That day, James again posted, stating that in the coming days, he would scour some old wallets for small assets to see if he could find anything usable, as he couldn't just return empty-handed. His words were filled with a desire to make a comeback.
The Whale Returns, Transformed into an Ant Position
On June 7, James Wynn cleared all funds from his on-chain address, transferring the remaining assets totaling $1.91 million into three CEXs, including $1.5 million to Kucoin, $335,000 to MEXC, and $75,000 to Gate.
Just when many thought he was genuinely "washing his hands of gold," his subsequent actions revealed his unwillingness to let go, making it hard not to exclaim, "The leopard cannot change its spots."
On June 8, James Wynn used $468.62 as capital to open a 40x leveraged long position on Bitcoin, with an opening price of $105,537.5 and a liquidation price of $104,190, holding a nominal position value of only $18,737.66. He stated that he had bet his entire fortune.
In "The Flowers," the seasoned uncle once told Bao: “Do you know the Empire State Building in New York? It takes an hour to run from the bottom to the top; it only takes 8.8 seconds to jump down; that’s the stock market. If you want to make money from stocks, you first have to learn to lose.”
Uncle's Advice
Compared to the stock market, the cruelty of the crypto market is even greater. If someone asks, "How long does it take for a crypto whale who made an eight-figure fortune to fall to a broke trader?"
Perhaps James Wynn can provide the answer—from once opening a $1 billion level BTC long position to an "all-in" ant position, from May 8 to June 8, exactly one month.
On the afternoon of June 8, according to Onchain Lens monitoring, James Wynn had closed his 40x Bitcoin long position, incurring a loss of about $70.71. Subsequently, although the amount of this long position was small, his losses further "expanded"—according to Lookonchain monitoring, his loss amount increased to $113.55.
I believe many, including myself, find it hard to have such a stark contrast in experience: just a week ago, you were a whale stirring up the crypto scene, with positions worth tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of dollars, and you even boasted, "A hundred million is not a big deal; it can't even buy a super yacht"; yet just a week later, after rummaging through countless old wallets and adding your referral bonuses, you only managed to gather a few hundred dollars to open a position.
The consequences of greed are painfully severe; yet the thrill of gambling goes far beyond that.
As James reached a dead end, questions surrounding him such as "Is James Wynn really a white glove for Hyperliquid?", "Is James Wynn using Hyperliquid to hedge and launder money?", and "Is James Wynn a creation of the Hyperliquid platform, and does he not exist at all?" may have found some answers.
James Wynn and Hyperliquid: Only a Relationship Between Casino and Gambler, Nothing More
The Identity Doubts Surrounding James Wynn
Previously, due to being specifically named by James Wynn, Wintermute's founder wishful_cynic became a target after James accused him of hunting trades against him and called for donations to fight against "conspiracy market makers." Later, he stated, "Overall, I think 'Wynn' is just a very well-executed marketing campaign for HL (Hyperliquid), well done. He is excellent. His tweets are great." He also tagged @JamesWynnReal, mentioning, "In fact, James Wynn mentions Hyperliquid in about one out of every three tweets, constantly emphasizing decentralization, anti-corruption, and anti-manipulation, while vaguely referring to unverified 'account bans' scandals from other centralized exchanges. From a communication perspective, James Wynn has achieved the biggest success in the crypto market this year."
But soon, James Wynn's statements shattered this "conspiracy theory."
James Clarifies: Contacted HyperLiquid Twice for Cooperation but Was Rejected, Anticipates CZ's Dark Pool to Defeat HP
James Wynn later posted, “I proactively contacted HyperLiquid twice, hoping to reach some cooperation agreement regarding the attention I brought them. Although they expressed gratitude, they do not enter into such agreements with anyone. This makes sense, as their platform is decentralized and does not operate like traditional exchanges. I earned $34,000 through their referral program. Considering the number of registrations and trading volume I brought, this amount is very low. Their referral mechanism is poor; other platforms are much better.” His words indeed do not sound like those of a "stooge" for the Hyperliquid platform, even though the platform benefited from market conditions and set new trading volume records, with the HYPE token previously surpassing the rising SUI in market cap, climbing to 11th place in the cryptocurrency rankings.
Additionally, James did not hesitate to flatter CZ, mentioning: “In my opinion, when CZ launches a dark pool perpetual contract DEX, HyperLiquid will be finished. CZ has the funds, resources, and team to create unprecedented products. Just look at what he has achieved at Binance. I hope this will prompt HyperLiquid to make improvements; otherwise, they will soon be surpassed by stronger competitors.” For more on the dark pool mentioned by CZ, see “An Analysis of the Breakthrough Points in the Contract Track from CZ's Perspective—Dark Pool”.
It is worth mentioning that Wintermute founder wishful_cynic has a somewhat ironic view on dark pools. He stated: “Ironically, we learned from the FTX + Alameda case that internal market maker black boxes are bad, and on-chain DEXs are the future, (and now many people believe that) the most successful DEXs are operating mechanisms that are… internal market maker black boxes.”
Another Focus: Is Hyperliquid a Money Laundering Platform? No Official Conclusion Yet
Meanwhile, as mentioned by the founder of Wintermute, the question of whether “Hyperliquid provides convenience for hedging or wash trading for money laundering” has also become a focal point for many.
Mirror Tang, founder of the Web3 security company Salus, previously posted that since March of this year, Chinese law enforcement has uncovered three cases of cryptocurrency money laundering using Hyperliquid. The criminal method mainly involves utilizing Hyperliquid's high-leverage liquidation mechanism to create liquidation losses on the platform while simultaneously building reverse positions on centralized exchanges to profit, thus completing the laundering of illegal funds. He emphasized that this strategy is highly similar to the trading path of Hyperliquid user James Wynn.
As of now, there is no official conclusion regarding this incident, and Odaily Planet Daily will continue to track the subsequent developments.
Conclusion: A Thought Can Lead to Heaven or Hell; Remember to Withdraw Profits and Avoid High-Frequency Trading
Looking back at James Wynn's tumultuous month, from being unnoticed to calling for the meme coin Moonpig to surpass a market cap of 100 million, then to making profits from large long positions, and finally to chasing highs and lows, ending up with nothing, it can truly be considered a “crypto drama.” As for the future, it seems extremely difficult for him to make a comeback.
In the midst of James's own thoughts of heaven and hell, Bitcoin first broke new highs and then recently fell to around $100,000.
Perhaps James Wynn is using his personal experience to tell us an unbreakable truth about the crypto market: remember to withdraw profits and avoid high-frequency trading.
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