Trader Swaps $1.2B BTC Long for $1B Short—Takes $17.5M Hit on Hyperliquid

A high-stakes trader, known as “moonpig”, has opened one of the largest on-chain short positions ever recorded, putting US$50M (AU$77M) in a US$1.2B (AU$1.86B) bet against Bitcoin.

The move happened on Hyperliquid (HYPE), a decentralised exchange that has seen its popularity skyrocket throughout 2025. The trader, whose real name is James Wynn, used 40x leverage to enter a cross-margin short, risking his entire wallet to bet on a pullback in BTC, with an entry price of US$107,077 (AU$165,968).

From Long to Short

Wynn had a change of heart, after flipping his bet just hours after he closed a US$1.2B long on Bitcoin, a position he’d held through Saturday while calling for a US$110,000 (AU$170k) breakout. 

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That move didn’t materialise. While Bitcoin did top out around US$111k (AU$170k), it later fell below US$107k (AU$165k), prompting Wynn to exit and eat a US$17.5M (AU$27.12M) cut to his historical profit, according to CoinGlass.

Wynn’s performance has caught the attention of Crypto Twitter, leaving many confused and others trying to find the meaning of his actions. Popular crypto influencer Daan Crypto Trades summarised it perfectly:

When he was long, the consensus seemed to be that he was some all knowing insider and we were going to giga pump. Now he’s flipped short people are closing out their shorts and screaming for a liquidation. Fact is, we have no idea what he does and why.

Daan Crypto Trades, Trader and Investor.

His pivot to a full-size short is already paying off. As of now, Wynn is up around US$3M (AU$4.65M) on the position. But with liquidation set at US$110,446 (AU$171,190), there’s no margin for error unless he adds collateral. BTC is currently trading just below that threshold.

Despite the volatility, Wynn’s total profit on Hyperliquid remains above US$40 million (AU$61.3 million). The exchange itself is riding the momentum: open interest has hit record highs, and its native token HYPE is up more than 8% in the past 24 hours, now trading near its all-time high of US$38.68 (AU$59.28).

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