High-Stakes Gambler Liquidated for $168M After Shorting the Bottom of Crypto Plunge

Degen Gambler Liquidated for $168M After Shorting the Bottom of Crypto Plunge

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A high-stakes crypto trader was wiped out on HyperLiquid before immediately piling back into massive leveraged shorts on GMX — echoing past blow-ups from reckless market punters.

By Oliver Knight|Edited by Sheldon Reback

Updated Nov 17, 2025, 4:40 p.m. Published Nov 17, 2025, 4:38 p.m.

Ether crashed 35% in May (keithsutherland/Getty images+/Unsplash)

A trader who had funneled hundreds of thousands into Stake and Roobet lost $5.5 million after shorting BTC, XRP, ZEC and others in a $168 million leveraged bet ahead of Sunday’s bounce.
Despite the wipeout, the trader doubled down with another $115 million in bitcoin and ether shorts on GMX. Those positions are still open with $1.4 million in unrealized gains.
The episode mirrors the high-leverage blowup of pseudonymous trader James Wynn, who lost $100 million earlier this year after going long at the top.

A degen gambler who previously deposited hundreds of thousands of dollars to crypto casinos Stake and Roobet was liquidated on HyperLiquid over the weekend, losing $5.5 million after shorting before Sunday’s bounce with a series of leveraged positions worth $168 million.

The trader shorted bitcoin BTC$94,207.07, XRP$2.2018 and zcash ZEC$686.22, as well as having smaller positions in ASTER, BNB and RESOLV.

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The bearish trades came after several tokens fell to multimonth lows on Friday as crypto’s fear and greed index began flashing “extreme fear.”

The losses didn’t perturb the trader, who effectively doubled down on the position by shorting bitcoin and ether with positions worth $115 million on decentralized exchange GMX shortly after being liquidated.

Those positions are still open, with unrealized profit standing at $1.4 million at the time of writing.

The use of high leverage and general impulsivity of the trader is reminiscent of James Wynn, a pseudonymous trader who famously lost $100 million earlier this year after opening a series of long positions on bitcoin at the top.

Bitcoin is currently trading at $94,100 having already given back most of the gains from Sunday’s rally.

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