The $60M Crypto Meltdown: From Moonpig to Millionaire—A Trader’s Wild Ride

by

James Wynn, or as he’s known to his fans and foes alike, “moonpig”—because why not add a little flavor to the crypto chaos—found himself in the middle of a $60 million catastrophe in May 2025. And this wasn’t just any disaster; it was a week-long saga of epic highs, ridiculous lows, and enough drama to make a soap opera look like a documentary. Hold your horses, folks, we’re about to dive in.

The Ascent: Turning Memecoins Into A Billion-Dollar Fantasy

Our story begins in 2022, when James, not yet the crypto legend he would become, started trading with a little help from Alameda Research (because what’s a little backing from the big leagues?). This gamble led to the transformation of $7,000 into $25 million in PEPE meme coins, all thanks to the magic of high-frequency trading. Who needs traditional investments when you’ve got memecoins and a lot of guts?

By March 2025, Wynn had stashed $4.65 million in USDC on Hyperliquid, where he proceeded to execute a mind-boggling 38 trades—mostly in Bitcoin and, yes, you guessed it, meme coins. By May 10, he’d turned those trades into $46.5 million. Do you feel a little bit like a peasant yet?

The Descent: One Bitcoin Position to Ruin Them All

But, as any seasoned trader (or anyone who’s ever seen a reality show) will tell you, what goes up must come down. And boy, did it come crashing down. On May 19, Wynn, with all the bravado of a man who had just invented the crypto wheel, opened a 40x leveraged long position on 5,520 BTC at $103,302. His liquidation level was $98,294, but who needs caution when you can bet big?

Fast forward two days, and Wynn had expanded his position to a staggering 9,371.71 BTC, worth over $1 billion. Unbelievable, right? With unrealized gains of $10.71 million, things were looking rosy. And then, the market sneezed. May 23 came, Trump spoke, and Bitcoin dropped 4%. Now Wynn was sitting on a loss so big you could almost hear the sound of his hopes deflating.

But did he stop? Of course not. He closed a PEPE position with a cool $25.18 million profit and increased his Bitcoin long position to 11,588 BTC at $108,243. Spoiler: That didn’t end well either. May 25: a $13.39 million loss. Ouch.

The top trader @JamesWynnReal went long on $PEPE with 10x leverage again, with an unrealized profit of $130K.

— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) May 26, 2025

Now, in a move that could be described as a tactical retreat, Wynn decided to switch to a short strategy. He scaled his Bitcoin short to 7,967.83 BTC, worth $856 million, with a liquidation price at $111,280. What happened next? He lost roughly $15.87 million in just 15 hours. In case you were wondering, that’s faster than a speeding bullet—and a lot more painful.

Top trader @JamesWynnReal closed $1B worth of $BTC short positions 2 hours ago, losing~$15.87M in just 15 hours.

— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) May 26, 2025

The Aftermath: A Public Exit (And a Whole Lot of Sarcasm)

Finally, on May 26, after acknowledging the hot mess his trading account had become, Wynn took to X to publicly declare: “You win some, you lose some. But hey, at least I’m walking away with a profit.” Yes, folks, despite his billions slipping through his fingers like sand, he still had $25 million left over. His message? He’s out. Bye-bye, perpetual trading. Hello, $25 million in profits (from a base of $3–4 million). Not bad for a guy who almost lost it all.

To all the fans and haters:

We had a good run gambling on perps

At peak the account was up $87,000,000 profits from like $3-$4m.

Now decided to leave the casino with my $25,000,000 profit

It’s been fun, but now it’s time for me to walk away a wynner

Wynn 1-0 Haters…

— James Wynn 🐳 (@JamesWynnReal) May 26, 2025

The Moral of the Story: Don’t Bet The Farm on Crypto (Or, You Know, Anything)

James Wynn’s saga is a masterclass in how to make and lose millions in a week. The moral of the story? If you’re planning to dive into the crypto market, maybe, just maybe, take a page out of Wynn’s book and learn how to manage risk. Because high-leverage trading without a parachute is about as smart as getting into a fistfight with a bear—except the bear doesn’t have $60 million to lose.

As of May 28, Bitcoin is trading at around $108,805. The market’s still as volatile as a toddler on a sugar high. So buckle up. 🚀

Read More

2025-05-29 01:20