Trader Nets $17M in Days—By Shorting James Wynn’s Play

One opportunistic whale just turned contrarian bets into generational wealth—proving once again that markets reward ruthless efficiency over blind loyalty.

While retail traders chase hype, this anonymous player saw blood in the water and pounced. The result? A cool $17 million profit in under five days by betting against James Wynn’s position.

Another reminder: on Wall Street, sentiment is just leverage for the sharks. Always follow the money—not the influencers.

The trading strategy

The trading activity began to draw attention on May 24, when 0x2258 shorted Bitcoin and ethereum while Wynn maintained a long position on BTC. By May 25, after Wynn closed his long position, 0x2258 exited his shorts with a $1.36 million profit.

Later that same day, Wynn switched to shorting Bitcoin. In response, the whale flipped long on both BTC and ETH. When Wynn closed his short the next day, 0x2258 exited his long positions with an additional $2.54 million in gains.

The pattern continued on May 26 when Wynn went long again. This prompted 0x2258 to short BTC and ETH, resulting in an unrealized profit of $1.7 million.

The series of calculated counter-trades has helped the anonymous trader amass more than $17 million in profit while Wynn’s own positions sank further.

Wynn’s losses

On the other hand, Wynn saw his fortunes collapse after a massive liquidation triggered by Bitcoin’s drop to nearly $105,000. This resulted in the high-profile trader losing around $98 million.

Despite the setback, Wynn’s remains unfazed, saying:

“Zero regrets. Flipping $4 million to $100 million and back down to -$13 million is one hell of a thrill. Hope many of you enjoyed it as much as I did.”

Over the past week, Wynn has drawn attention for his risky, high-leverage plays on Bitcoin on the decentralized trading platform, Hyperliquid.

As of press time, Wynn has reopened a $47 million long on bitcoin and a $8.4 million PEPE long, both using 10x leverage.