Hyperliquid's most well-known whale, self-described "high-risk leverage trader" James Wynn, is experiencing a massive loss after abandoning his substantial Bitcoin exposure following a harsh seven-day drawdown, according to data .
At 16:00 UTC on Tuesday, Wynn closed parts of a 40× leveraged long position, leaving a $200 million BTC-perp position with an unrealized loss of approximately $800,000.
Between May 5 and May 23, Wynn's cumulative profit skyrocketed from $5.7 million to $87 million, before plummeting to $1.91 million today—a $55.3 million swing over one week.
Wynn shot to fame in March when he started streaming his Hyperliquid trades, making $46.5 million in under 2 months, and paying the exchange over $2.3 million in fees. His biggest winners, according to Tiger Brokers , were a PEPE long worth $25.2 million and a BTC long worth $16.9 million.
The tides turned on May 25 when he saw $15.9 million of loss from a liquidated $1 billion BTC short, which was followed by a liquidation of a $1.25 billion long position that was closed at a $13.4 million loss, and a bloodletting in terms of red ink across ETH, SUI, the 10× PEPE punt as well.
In addition to his major successes and failures, Wynn is accused of also pushing smaller meme coins like ELON, WYNN, and MOONPIG, and selling them once they spiked. This is called "pump-and-dump ," but Wynn says that he is simply an investor.
Critics argue that the chain of events underscores the risks associated with copy-trading social media personalities. At the same time, supporters believe Wynn's radical transparency is refreshing in a world dominated by shadowy whale investors.
James Wynn loses $55M after high-leverage bet first appeared on TheStreet on May 28, 2025