The Three Weeks of Lies: How $100 Million Disappeared from Hyperliquid

In 2025, the crypto market became an unparalleled battlefield of liquidations and unexpected losses. Amidst an unstoppable bull run, many well-known whales and investors experienced “blood in the eyes”—literally losing millions of dollars in just a few days. Their stories are not just simple trading losses; they serve as practical lessons about hubris, leverage, and the true meaning of risk management in the world of decentralized finance.

From $45 Million Profits to $20 Million Losses: The Tragedy of Machi Big Brother

If there is anyone symbolizing “liquidation hell” in 2025, it is none other than Machi Big Brother (Huang Licheng). His story begins with success—in the early months of the year, he earned an astronomical $45.66 million in the Hyperliquid ecosystem through strategic positions in HYPE, XPL, and Ethereum. XPL was at its peak, and all indicators were green.

But as September ended and October began, the world started to change. XPL plummeted by up to 46%, while HYPE also followed the decline. His unrealized losses reached over $8.7 million per coin. Instead of taking profits the first time, he held on. “This is just temporary,” he probably thought. So he leveraged even higher.

The “10·11” market crash was the final blow. He entered high-leverage long positions on Ethereum—holding approximately 7,000 to 30,000 ETH contracts with 20x–25x leverage. Every price drop hit his liquidation line directly.

What happened in November was unmatched. From November 1 to 19—just 19 days—he was liquidated 71 times. An average of four liquidations per day. Recharge, liquidate. Recharge again, liquidate again. Like a perpetual cycle of blood in the eyes. In the end, his total loss on perpetual contracts reached $20.97 million.

From $45.66 million in profit to $20.97 million in losses—more than $66 million in asset drawdown in just three months.

The ironic part? Machi Big Brother is not just a random retail trader. He is the former soul of L.A. Boyz in Taiwan and one of the people who brought American hip-hop into the Chinese music scene. He also became a “NFT savior” in 2023 during the BLUR airdrop wars, earning $1.9 million in tokens but losing 12,000 ETH (worth $25 million at the time). Despite celebrity status and market experience, the blood in the eyes in crypto never stops.

The Billion-Dollar No-Plan Scenario

James Wynn was once a hero of the PEPE community—an ordinary person who invested $7,600 in a meme coin in 2023 and made $25 million returns. But he was not satisfied with spot trading. From March to April 2025, he earned an additional $25 million through aggressive leveraged trading of PEPE and ETH, bringing his holdings to $50 million.

By May, he looked at Bitcoin approaching its all-time high of $110,000. And here he made his biggest gambling move in life: at a Bitcoin price of $108,000, he used 40x leverage and opened a long position nominally worth $1.25 billion.

One person. One chain address. $1.25 billion notional value. Larger than the treasury reserves of some countries.

But the market does not play fair. A severe pullback occurred, Bitcoin fell below $105,000, and within just a week, his apocalyptic position seemed to melt away. The $100 million loss became reality. Almost all of his astronomical gains were returned to the market.

Desperation worsened. In November, he went all-in short on the remaining funds, betting that Bitcoin would fall below $92,000. Over two months, he was liquidated 45 times. In one day, 12 liquidations in 12 hours. The former “PEPE prophet” became a sugar-addicted gambler who only stops on Twitter to complain.

The “Bottom Fisher” Who Became a Prisoner of Leverage

Another major casualty is a whale who was once a master of short arbitrage using lending protocols. He gambled $24 million profit on shorts but was not satisfied. He wanted to “also profit on the long side.”

On November 5, he closed his shorts and immediately jumped into longs. Over 9 days, he transferred a total of $1.187 billion to exchanges and withdrew 422,000 ETH for a “bottom fishing” strategy. The average entry price was around $3,413, and he used $485 million leveraged lending at the top of the market.

The market delivered a harsh slap. As time went on, ETH fell below $3,000. The “bottom” he chased turned into a “bottomless pit”—unrealized losses reached $133 million at the worst point. The once $24 million profit was completely erased, and the principal hemorrhaged $100 million-plus.

By mid-November, he began to reposition, dumping 44,000 ETH ($140 million value) on the exchange to cut losses. The final tally: $125 million realized loss.

Real-World Cases: Where Code Security Means Nothing

But not all “blood in the eyes” comes from market mechanics. Some result from basic human error and inside threats more frightening than any algorithmic attack.

Babur, an on-chain whale, used an industry-standard Safe multisig wallet to protect his $27 million assets. Theoretically, multiple private key signatures are needed to transfer. But a huge mistake: he put all private keys on a single computer.

Like buying the best safe in the world but leaving two keys on the doorknob.

A malicious file click, and everything was gone. The 4,250 ETH ($14 million) was transferred to Tornado Cash for laundering.

Suji Yan, founder of Mask Network, has an even more alarming story. On her birthday party on February 27, 2025, she left for a few minutes to go to the bathroom and hide her phone. In just 11 minutes—only 11 minutes—the hacker transferred $4 million from her public wallet. The operation was manual, taking over 11 minutes, according to Foresight News founder.

The most extreme case? Lachy Groom, a tech investor and ex-boyfriend of Sam Altman. One Saturday in November, a faux deliveryman entered his San Francisco mansion. Not just a hacker—an armed robber. He was tied up, beaten, forced to give his password, and lost $11 million in crypto assets within 90 minutes. The “wrench attack” (physical coercion) has become a pandemic in the crypto world. According to Casa’s database, there have been about 60 such incidents this year alone, with tens of millions of dollars lost.

The Simple Supply Chain Attack Worth $7 Million

An ordinary investor decided to buy a “discounted” cold hardware wallet on TikTok for “absolute security.” But the wallet was pre-compromised from the factory—the private key was leaked already. When he deposited 50 million RMB (almost $7.08 million), it was like directly handing it over to the hacker. In just a few hours, everything was cleaned using Huione.

Lesson? The biggest security hole is human greed for discounts.

The “Official Customer Service” Scam That Took $91.4 Million

On August 19, 2025, a whale with $300 million Bitcoin holdings became a victim of sophisticated social engineering. He did not click suspicious links or download viruses. He simply answered a call.

On the line was a calm, professional-sounding “hardware wallet official senior engineer” claiming a critical vulnerability and needing a “firmware upgrade.” During an hour-long conversation, the whale himself transferred 783 Bitcoin ($91.4 million at the time) to a hacker-controlled address.

Then, the funds went through traditional money laundering—repeated deposits into Wasabi Wallet to obscure the trace.

The Real Lesson: Survival Matters More Than Winning

These 10 stories, combined, use hundreds of millions of dollars as “tuition” to teach us a simple truth: there are no absolute winners in the Web3 dark forest. Hackers can steal code but lose in secondary market mechanics. There is no absolute security—the technical multisig armor of Babur is defeated by a single malicious file. There is no absolute fortress—Lachy’s mansion was not protected against guns.

Each of these cases was once a standout in their respective fields. But 2025 has shown them that the real winner is not the one with the biggest gains. The true winner is the one who survives to trade tomorrow.

In the crypto market, survival is more important than profit. Ultimately, the measure of success is not how much money you win, but how much you still have.