Bitcoin trader closes $1.2 billion position following $13 million loss

James Wynn, a Hyperliquid whale who shot into the limelight for profitable trades, has recorded $13.39 million in losses in his long position with Bitcoin. The trader had been bullish on Bitcoin, predicting it would reach as high as $118,000.

According to on-chain analyst EmberCN, Wynn liquidated his $11,588 BTC ($1.2 billion) long position on Bitcoin after the flagship asset dropped to $107,000. His actual liquidation price is $105,180, but he chose to close all positions, complete the process within 47 minutes, and take over $13 million in losses.

Interestingly, the decision to liquidate comes less than 24 hours after he posted on X that Bitcoin would reach $110,500 today and should climb up to $121,000 by next week. While many people praised his bullish post then, his decision to close all his positions was a surprise.

However, Wynn justified closing the positions, noting that technical analysis showing a golden cross spooked him and made him close his positions. While the golden cross is considered a bullish signal, it is usually preceded by a dip in price.

Crypto analyst Kyle Chasse had predicted that Bitcoin could drop between 10% and 15% before seeing another liftoff that could send it to a new high. Chasse added that altcoins could even fall further.

Despite closing his biggest Bitcoin at a loss, the trader reportedly made $8.45 million in combined profits on all his Bitcoin positions over the last few days, benefiting from  BTC’s recent rally.

Market volatility leaves Hyperliquid whales with mixed result

Meanwhile, this is not the first time Wynn would take a loss on a trade, even though his cumulative PNL remains positive. According to Lookonchain, the trader took a $5.3 million loss after closing his ETH and SUI long positions on May 24.

However, he also made $25.19 million in total profits on his PEPE memecoin longs, which were held for more than 2 months. During that period, PEPE gained a 62% increase in value.

Another popular whale, Machi Big Brother, made $2.1 million in profits on Hyperliquid after opening long positions on ETH and HYPE tokens with $6.04 million. He made over $669,000 on the trade and used all his funds to buy almost 219,000 HYPE tokens, which he staked.

With all the massive trading on Hyperliquid, which has seen the decentralized exchange dominate trading volume for decentralized perps, the HYPE token has been rising in value. In fact, it is up more than 5% in the last 24 hours and trades around $35 after gaining more than 100% in the last two months.

Interestingly, HYPE’s performance, which has seen it gain 30% in the past week, has forced some traders who short the token to capitulate. One trader has lost $23.5 million on shorting HYPE on Hyperliquid and had to close all their short positions after more than four weeks.

Over $180 million liquidated in 24 hours as crypto futures dominate trading

Meanwhile, Wynn’s decision to close his long positions is unsurprising, given that the recent price correction has liquidated several long positions. According to CoinGlass data, $182.82 million of positions have been liquidated, and $138.57 million are long positions.

ETH bulls are the most affected, with  $43.46 million in liquidations, followed by Bitcoin with $20.82 million. SOL bulls also lost $7.20 million in liquidation after the recent drop in price.

With longs getting liquidated, it is not surprising that short positions over the last 24 hours have increased and now account for almost 52% of open positions.

Meanwhile, the market volatility is attracting more speculative trading, with the Spot to Futures ratio on Binance now at 4.9, the highest in 18 months. The 4.9 ratio means the futures volume is 4.9 times bigger than the spot volume.

Despite the volatility, experts believe that Bitcoin would still go higher. Crypto analyst Crypto Dan said a few days ago that the market had not reached overheated territory as metrics such as short-term capital inflows and funding rates remain low compared to previous peaks. Thus, BTC might still set a new high in this cycle.

The recent drop appears only to be a price correction in reaction to the announcement of a potential 50% tariff against the European Union and a 25% tariff on Apple iPhones if it continues to manufacture outside the US.

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