Ethereum

Trader

Bubblemaps

Constant

Hyperliquid

<p>Few market stories expose the brutality of concentrated leverage quite like a whale moving from nine-figure profits to a nine-figure hole. On-chain analytics firm Bubblemaps has identified a trader, Garrett Jin, as the address behind the so-called “10/10 whale”—a wallet that once seemed untouchable. According to <a href="https://x.com/bubblemaps/status/2058888057211011486?s=20" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">the original report</a>, Jin would have been up over $70 million had he never touched ETH. Instead, his overall PnL now sits at negative $128 million.</p>
<p>The numbers are staggering not because they represent a slow bleed, but because they came after a legendary run. The wallet initially made headlines shorting Bitcoin with near-perfect timing, netting roughly $100 million. Then, a pivot to leveraged ETH longs unraveled most of those gains. Bubblemaps estimates the Ethereum losses alone exceeded $200 million.</p>
<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="a-pattern-of-extremes">A Pattern of Extremes</h2>
<p>The whale’s trajectory mirrors a broader trend of high-profile traders using on-chain transparency as a double-edged sword. With tools like Bubblemaps mapping fund flows, every deposit and position becomes public theater. That visibility can amplify reputational damage when a trade goes wrong, but it also shows how quickly a well-known entity can shift strategies.</p>
<p>Jin’s latest moves fit that pattern. A wallet connected to the group recently deposited millions into Hyperliquid, a decentralized perpetuals exchange that has been attracting serious volume away from centralized venues. The wallet purchased $10 million worth of HYPE, Hyperliquid’s native token, while simultaneously opening a $38 million short position on ZEC, the privacy coin Zcash.</p>
<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="the-zec-wager-and-a-contrarian-streak">The ZEC Wager and a Contrarian Streak</h2>
<p>Shorting ZEC right now is a striking bet. ZEC was among the week’s notable gainers, as tracked in BlockchainReporter’s roundup of <a href="https://blockchainreporter.net/top-crypto-gainers-of-the-week-ton-siren-and-vvv-secure-top-positions/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">top crypto gainers</a>, where it climbed over 58%. Going against that momentum with a position of this size suggests either a conviction that the rally is technically unsupported or a desire to hedge against broader market exposure. Either way, it is a high-risk flip attempt after a punishing string of ETH longs.</p>
<p>The choice of Hyperliquid as the venue also matters. Decentralized perpetual platforms have grown precisely because they offer leverage without many of the KYC and margin-call structures of centralized exchanges. For a trader nursing a $128 million drawdown, that environment can provide a less constricted field to rebuild—or deepen losses. It’s a reminder that while institutions are increasingly <a href="https://blockchainreporter.net/weekly-tokenization-roundup-bullish-buys-equiniti-for-4-2b-ondo-settles-with-jpmorgan-rwa-crosses-20b/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">pouring capital into tokenized real-world assets</a> and regulated structures, the permissionless side of crypto still hosts enormous speculative firepower.</p>
<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="uncertainty-is-the-only-constant">Uncertainty Is the Only Constant</h2>
<p>What remains unclear is whether Jin is operating alone or managing capital for others. Bubblemaps has linked on-chain activity to a single identity, but the sizing and speed of the moves could point to a larger group. The new short on ZEC could easily be a tactical position meant to capitalize on a local top, or it could be the next leg in a sequence of overcorrections.</p>
<p>The bigger regulatory context also hovers over such outsized derivatives activity. As US lawmakers debate the <a href="https://blockchainreporter.net/banks-are-trying-to-kill-the-biggest-crypto-bill-in-us-history-four-days-before-the-senate-vote/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">most significant crypto market-structure bill</a> in years, the question of how leveraged trading is supervised—onshore and offshore—grows louder. For the 10/10 whale, the numbers alone will keep him in focus. Whether the ZEC short narrows the deficit or widens it could define the next chapter of an already extreme trading record.</p>

Trader Linked to ’10/10 Whale’ Down $128M Overall—Now Shorting ZEC on Hyperliquid

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