Giant whales fighting, billions of dollars at stake, a comprehensive overview of the thrilling high-leverage long and short showdown

Author: Fairy, ChainCatcher

Editor: TB, ChainCatcher

Last night, as Bitcoin was gearing up to break its historical high, a "billion-level showdown" unfolded on-chain with a fierce battle between bulls and bears.

Two aggressive trading giants, heavily invested, faced off: on one side was the legendary trader James Wynn, and on the other was the high-win-rate player known as the "Hyperliquid 50x Insider." Both opened 40x leveraged BTC positions, instantly attracting significant market attention.

Leverage amplifies profits but also magnifies greed. Let's review the ins and outs of this late-night battle.

Who Are They?

Bullish player James Wynn has been hailed as the "legendary Meme coin hunter" on-chain. His trading beginnings were quite humble, initially just a "10U warrior," with wallet interactions hovering around a few dozen dollars. However, during the PEPE craze, his style suddenly shifted to aggressive heavy positions, making him famous overnight. James Wynn earned over $25 million from an initial investment of $7,644, thanks to the explosive rise of PEPE.

James Wynn's contract style can be summarized in three keywords: large positions, high leverage, and high frequency. Each of his positions is almost always accompanied by a call. Recently, in BTC longs, he repeatedly stated, "Bitcoin at $100,000 is very cheap."

The bearish player "Hyperliquid 50x Insider" has a more bizarre background. Since January of this year, multiple addresses behind him have frequently used high leverage on GMX, accumulating profits of about $2.53 million. He is active on the gambling platform Roobet and AlphaPo, has interaction records with the hacker-favored exchange ChangeNOW, and single-handedly withdrew $1.8 million from the Hyperliquid platform, achieving legendary status in one battle. (Related reading: When it gets tough, even exchanges get cut! A deep dive into how Hyperliquid was drained of $1.8 million.)

Regarding his true identity, ZachXBT has pointed out that this "insider" is likely related to William Parker (WP). WP is a "professional gambler" with a history of fraud, having been arrested in Finland in 2023 for stealing a total of $1 million from two online casinos. He has repeatedly made headlines in British media for involvement in hacking and gambling-related fraud.

Battle Replay

According to data provided by on-chain analyst Ai Yi, a legendary showdown quietly began in the early hours of May 21.

⏰ 2 AM --- 4 AM: Both players increase their positions

At 2 AM, James Wynn took the lead, increasing his 40x leveraged BTC long position to 7,764.26 BTC (worth about $832 million).

• Opening price: $105,033.4
• Liquidation price: $100,330
• Current floating profit: about $16.59 million

At 4 AM, the Insider entered the market with a short position, fully embracing risk. As BTC reached a temporary high, he opened a 40x short position:

• Position size: 826.18 BTC (about $88.41 million)
• Opening price: $107,091.9
• Liquidation price: $108,500
• Current floating profit: $68,000

Image source: Ai Yi

⏰ 2 PM: BTC breaks $107,500, divergence begins

The performance of both positions started to diverge:

• James Wynn: Long position floating profit rose to $19.83 million
• Insider: Short position floating loss of $375,000

⏰ 3 PM to 6:30 PM: James Wynn takes profits in batches, position decreases

• 3 PM: Long position reduced to 5,625.43 BTC, floating profit $9.43 million, realized profit $10.48 million
• 4 PM: Continued to reduce to 4,640.26 BTC, floating profit $7.68 million, realized profit $11.92 million
• 6:30 PM: Further closed part of the position, leaving only 2,524.86 BTC, floating profit down to $2.72 million, cumulative realized profit $14.57 million

By this point, James Wynn's long position had decreased from a peak of $832 million to $268 million, gradually securing profits.

⏰ 9 PM: The front stabilizes, James Wynn holds low-key, Insider remains unchanged

BTC retraced to $106,500.

• James Wynn did not immediately increase his position, holding a long position of 1,819.58 BTC ($193 million), floating profit $2.65 million, realized profit $15.42 million
• Insider's short position: 826.18 BTC, floating profit $542,000

⏰ After 11 PM: Peak confrontation, both increase positions, tension rises

As BTC broke $108,000, James Wynn heavily increased his position, while the Insider also added margin to open another short:

James Wynn

• Increased position to 7,444.97 BTC ($815 million)
• New average opening price: $107,726.7
• Liquidation price: $101,420
• Current floating profit: $13.46 million

Insider

• Short position increased to 597.4 BTC ($65.43 million)
• New opening price: $108,185.5
• Liquidation price raised to: $112,320 (added $2 million USDC margin)
• Current floating loss: $806,000

⏰ 11:30 PM to midnight: Historic face-off, positions exceed one billion

Close to 11:30, James Wynn's long position surpassed $860 million, raising the liquidation price to $101,980; the Insider's short position expanded to $101 million, with a liquidation price of $110,780.

Near 11:45, James Wynn's long position approached $900 million.

Close to midnight: James Wynn's position broke one billion, reaching the peak of this round, and the two giants' confrontation reached its climax.

Morning report on May 22: James wins decisively

BTC fluctuated significantly and broke $110,000, reaching a historical high.

James Wynn's long position increased to 10,200 BTC, worth $1.12 billion, with a floating profit of $20.19 million.

The Insider's originally profitable short position missed the opportunity to take profits by continuously adding positions in the $106,670-$107,410 range, resulting in a cumulative loss of $5.61 million over 24 hours, still holding a 40x short position of 449.43 BTC.

Between Victory and Defeat, Understanding the Edge of Leverage

James Wynn wrote down the victory, while the Insider paid the price for greed and hesitation. This "billion-level showdown" not only exploded the data but also sounded a dual alarm for risk and discipline in the market.

And similar games may be unfolding right beside you and me. Currently, BTC contract open interest has soared to a historical high of $80.263 billion. In the past 24 hours, the total liquidation in the crypto market reached $407 million, with short liquidations at $240 million and long liquidations at $167 million.

Under high leverage, floating profits and liquidations are just a line apart.