A trader operating on decentralized platform Hyperliquid reportedly pocketed more than $150 million by betting against the market minutes before a major policy announcement that triggered a crypto crash. The operation, as spectacular as it was disconcerting, revived suspicions of insider trading. A few days later, this same actor opened a new short position of 160 million, fueling speculation about his identity and his access to information.
In brief
- An anonymous trader on Hyperliquid made more than $150 million in profits by betting against the market just before a major political announcement.
- Short positions were opened a minute before Donald Trump's tweet about new Chinese taxes, causing the market to collapse.
- The crypto community is wondering about the extremely precise timing of these operations and the possibility of early access to information.
- A few days after this first move, the same trader opened a new short position of $160 million, still on Bitcoin.
A lucrative maneuver against the backdrop of the crypto crash
On Friday evening, barely a minute before Donald Trump posted a message on X (formerly Twitter) announcing the imposition of new 100% tariffs on Chinese imports, a Hyperliquid account opened two huge short positions in bitcoin and Ethereum.
Analyst Specter indicates that this trader invested $80 million in BTC and $30 million in ETH, betting against the market while the majority of players took long positions. This initiative precedes Trump's tweet by exactly one minute, triggering a brutal fall in the crypto market.
“Hyperliquid's whale was shorting BTC/ETH until exactly one minute before Trump threatened China. The last short was placed at 20:49 GMT. Trump tweeted at 20:50 GMT. What incredible luck”quipped videographer and investigator Coffeezilla in a message published on X.
Data from HypurrScan show that this operation generated colossal gains, estimated at nearly $158 million. This dazzling success occurred while the majority of investors suffered significant losses, particularly on long positions. Here are the key factual elements of this sequence:
- The timing of the trade: opening of short positions 1 minute before Trump's tweet announcing the new taxes;
- The amounts committed: $80 million on BTC, $30 million on ETH;
- The immediate consequence: a crash causing massive liquidations on centralized and decentralized platforms, including Hyperliquid;
- The profit made: nearly $158 million in combined gains on the two positions.
The synchronized nature of this operation with the American political announcement, coupled with the scale of the amounts involved, instantly captured the attention of observers. However, no formal proof of privileged access to information has been put forward at this stage.
New $160M Short Position and Garrett Jin Speculation
A few days after this first burst of brilliance, this same trader opened a new short position on bitcoin. The affected portfolio injected $16 million in collateral, using 10x leverage to achieve a notional exposure of $160 million.
The market was entered at a price of $117,370, with a liquidation price located at $123,500, below the previous ATH of $126,080. Thus, the position has a latent capital gain of more than $4 million, while bitcoin is trading around $114,711. This new movement raises questions about the intentions of the trader and their level of information on macroeconomic or political dynamics.
Alongside this second operation, certain on-chain analysts attempted to identify the author of these spectacular bets. Analyst Eye evokes a connection between the crypto wallet used for positions and Garrett Jin, ex-CEO of the BitForex platform, now defunct.
According to Eye, an address that interacted with that of the whale transferred 40,000 USDT to an ENS wallet named “ereignis.eth”also associated with the name “garrettjin.eth”. However, these hypotheses have been largely put into perspective by other experts. “The only direct connection is a 40K USDT transfer, everything else is based on unconfirmed theories”reacted ZachXBT, a well-known figure of the on-chain analyst, adding: “it seems more likely that he’s a friend of Jin’s”.
Garrett Jin's name also appeared on Polymarket, as part of a bet on a possible presidential pardon from Donald Trump for Changpeng Zhao (CZ), former CEO of Binance. According to Emmett Gallic, active analyst on
The current position, opened in a climate of heightened mistrust, could also have ripple effects. If the bearish bet continues to generate profits, it could encourage other crypto traders to adopt a similar posture, putting further pressure on the price of bitcoin.
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