As BTC made two new price records above $111,000 on Thursday, all eyes were on the leveraged positions of James Wynn. One of the positions was valued at more than $1B, but Wynn also started closing smaller positions to lock in gains.
James Wynn, a high-risk leveraged trader, was closely watched while Bitcoin (BTC) set new price records. Wynn opened several long positions on BTC, with over $1B in notional value. The positions were opened near all-time high prices for BTC, showing significant confidence that the rally would continue.
After BTC broke above $11,400, Wynn closed one of the leveraged positions, locking in $1.5M in gains. The wallet was closely watched, as previously BTC took a step back right after Wynn’s exits. This time, BTC also abandoned its new peak, sliding to the $110,700 range.
Currently, Wynn is still in the money, with two open positions, having a notional value of $995M and $24M.
BTC leveraged trading expanded in the past days, as the leading coin prepared to set new records. BTC open interest on all exchanges grew to over $37B, up from the recent baseline of $30B. The Bitcoin fear and greed index inched up to 72 points, up 2 points in the past day.
Hyperliquid remains one of the busiest markets, mostly due to the available leverage at up to 40X. After the growing demand, the native HYPE token also rallied, moving close to its all-time high at $31.39.
James Wynn blames Binance for blocking funds
Amid his highly public trades, James Wynn complained of being unable to access his funds from Binance. Wynn tried to withdraw USDC on Arbitrum, but the withdrawals were suspended. Wynn suspected a deliberate attempt at liquidating his positions during a market downturn.
Do you work for Binance?
Like i said. Maybe coincidence. But done dozens of these deposits and withdrawals before and never ever seen it suspended. Only Arbitrum suspended too over USDC.
Forgive me for feeling suspicious when I’m in the middle of a stupidly overly leveraged…
— James Wynn 🐳 (@JamesWynnReal) May 22, 2025
For others, the withdrawal suspension was a coincidence, or a de-risking measure during one of the highly active trading days. USDC on Arbitrum also requires bridging before being available for other protocols. Wynn’s complaint reveals the still chaotic infrastructure, which may add risk to the already highly leveraged positions.
Previous cases of whale positions on Hyperliquid have led to group attempts at liquidating the holder. This time, Wynn is closely watched, but depressing BTC enough to liquidate the position would be a hard task, or require other whales to take up risk.
Hyperliquid becomes a battleground of bulls and bears
Hyperliquid showed its key positioning as a leveraged market during BTC and other asset rallies.
The perpetual futures DEX also carries risky short positions, which are currently losing, but have a liquidation price as high as $159K per BTC.
Another whale has set up a long position valued at $99M, waiting out the current short-term fluctuations.
Overall, leveraged traders shifted to short positions in the past day, trying to de-risk as BTC is testing new peaks. BTC short positions go over $114,000, while long positions accumulated the most liquidity around $106,000, potentially serving as a new support level. For risky whale positions, price swings in that range can lead to significant gains.
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