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By Shaurya Malwa|Edited by Parikshit Mishra
Updated May 26, 2025, 8:59 p.m. Published May 26, 2025, 8:10 a.m.
- A crypto wallet known for high-stakes trades has shifted focus to pepe (PEPE) with a $1 million bet at 10x leverage.
- Trader “James Wynn” closed a $1.2 billion Bitcoin position with a $17.5 million loss before opening a $1 billion short.
- Wynn announced stepping away from perpetual trading after securing a $25 million profit from an initial investment of over $3 million.
One of the most closely watched crypto wallets in recent weeks is now betting on pepe (PEPE), days after drumming up a record billion-dollar notional position on bitcoin
on the onchain trading platform Hyperliquid.
The wallet has gone long on PEPE with $1 million at 10x leverage, flipping from billion-dollar bitcoin trades to high-stakes memecoin bets. The position is already up $500,000 as of European morning hours, with pepe up nearly 6% in the past few hours.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Pseudonymous trader “James Wynn” — known as “moonpig” on decentralized exchange Hyperliquid — closed their $1.2 billion BTC long position with a $17.5 million loss on Monday.
Wynn then opened a $1 billion short using 40x leverage, effectively wagering their entire $50 million wallet on the downside. Both positions are a record for an onchain platform and represent the biggest bets placed entirely on a blockchain-based service.
Wynn’s new short was opened at an average price of $107,077, and has already netted about $3 million in profit as BTC hovered just below that level Monday, before losing some value.
The trade is a high-risk musical chairs event: if BTC rises above $110,446, Wynn’s position could be liquidated unless additional collateral is posted, data shows.
That position is since closed and Wynn said on X stepping away from perpetual trading altogether. They have netted a total profit of $25 million from an initial above $3 million, the account said on X.
“Now decided to leave the casino with my $25,000,000 profit,” he posted. “It’s been fun, but now it’s time for me to walk away a wynner.”
Shaurya is the Co-Leader of the CoinDesk tokens and data team in Asia with a focus on crypto derivatives, DeFi, market microstructure, and protocol analysis.
Shaurya holds over $1,000 in BTC, ETH, SOL, AVAX, SUSHI, CRV, NEAR, YFI, YFII, SHIB, DOGE, USDT, USDC, BNB, MANA, MLN, LINK, XMR, ALGO, VET, CAKE, AAVE, COMP, ROOK, TRX, SNX, RUNE, FTM, ZIL, KSM, ENJ, CKB, JOE, GHST, PERP, BTRFLY, OHM, BANANA, ROME, BURGER, SPIRIT, and ORCA.
He provides over $1,000 to liquidity pools on Compound, Curve, SushiSwap, PancakeSwap, BurgerSwap, Orca, AnySwap, SpiritSwap, Rook Protocol, Yearn Finance, Synthetix, Harvest, Redacted Cartel, OlympusDAO, Rome, Trader Joe, and SUN.
