The $1.3B Gamble: James Wynn’s Wild Ride on Hyperliquid

“I’d rather be somebody for a day than a nobody for a lifetime.” James Wynn

Lately, @JamesWynnReal has been at the center of attention on CT after building the largest-ever $BTC position on Hyperliquid: nearly $1.3 billion at peak, leveraged up to 40x. This sparked widespread discussion about his background, early wins with $PEPE and $TRUMP, and even his integrity.

His stated goal was to make $1 billion in profits. Although he started strong, briefly hitting a total PnL of ~$90 million on May 22, ultimately he gave it all back and more. A string of subsequent $BTC trades reversed his gains, leaving him with an overall loss of nearly $19 million by month’s end. Still, he’s already hinting at a comeback.

The response on CT has been sharply divided. Some admire his audacity and conviction; others criticize the recklessness of giving away such massive gains. But this isn’t about judgment. What’s certain is that Wynn wouldn’t have reached such highs without taking aggressive risks.

This report focuses on his trading journey on Hyperliquid between March and May 2025.

Wynn’s Performance on Perps: Overview

In terms of PnL from trading perpetuals, fees and funding excluded, Wynn recorded a total loss of $7.8 million over the analyzed period. He closed 51 positions with a win rate of 39% and a profit factor of 0.9.

Wynn began “slow” on Hyperliquid, trading with notionals in the low millions and keeping his PnL around breakeven through April. That changed at the end of the month with his first major win, pushing profits close to $20 million. From there, his exposure increased rapidly, ultimately reaching $1.3 billion by the final week of May.

Wynn traded a total of 15 symbols, but his focus was primarily on $PEPE and $BTC: the former throughout the entire period, and the latter becoming his main exposure from the end of April onward.

The focus on $PEPE and $BTC is further reflected in the total PnL by symbol: Wynn generated $24 million in profits on $PEPE, while accumulating $34 million in losses on $BTC.

$PEPE: $24 Million In The Bank

Before diving into the end of the month's $BTC trades, here it is a look at the biggest win by Winn’s on $PEPE. He closed 11 positions on it between May 21 and May 31, while 10 out of 11 roughly cut each other out, the one close on May 24 gave him a total profit of $25 million.

Wynn managed his $PEPE position for two months, from March 23 to the last week of May, effectively capturing the entire upward move the token experienced during that period.

Wynn entered the $PEPE position around the $0.008 level, likely anticipating a breakout that failed to materialize on the first attempt. Rather than closing the trade, he reduced his exposure as the price declined (dropping roughly 20% from his entry) before gradually increasing it again near the bottom. He maintained a notional exposure of around $30 million until May 5, when he added another $10 million as the price reclaimed the $0.008 level. From there, $PEPE rallied sharply, peaking at $0.016. Wynn took profits progressively during the move, ultimately realizing $25 million in gains.

$BTC: The $1 Billion Target

And now we arrive at the $1 billion bet that brought Wynn widespread attention. As previously noted, he had been trading $BTC since late March, but it was in the final stretch, between May 6 and May 31, that he significantly ramped up his exposure with five major positions. Unfortunately, only the first of these five positions was profitable, netting $18 million. The remaining four resulted in a combined loss of $52.2 million, bringing his total PnL on $BTC to approximately -$35 million.

For context, below is the price action of $BTC during this period, up approximately 10% as of May 31.

Hyperliquid’s Largest Position Ever: Long $1.3 Billion on $BTC

He began building the position around May 6 at a price of $95k with relatively modest notional exposure (~$80M), gradually increasing it over the following weeks. The notional value rose consistently through a series of additions and reductions, eventually reaching a peak of approximately $1.3 billion just before May 24 at 40x leverage. This progression suggests a clear intention to scale in aggressively, often locking in profits and re-entering the market with greater size.

The average entry price (red line) shows a gradual upward slope, indicating that Wynn was continuously adding to his position at higher price levels. His entry remained below the prevailing market price for most of the trade, reflecting early profitability.

The PnL curve highlights the effectiveness of this strategy during the first part of the trade. Between May 8 and May 22, total PnL increased significantly, peaking at over $55 million. Wynn took partial profits along the way, as shown by the realized PnL (green line), confirming that he was de-risking as the position grew. However, from May 22 onward, the PnL line became increasingly volatile and began to drop sharply, as $BTC lost momentum and started trading below Wynn’s average entry, which had risen to around $109K. On May 24, Wynn started aggressively closing the position for a final realized PnL of $18 million.

Wynn’s approach, realizing profits on the way up and scaling back in with larger size, worked well during the trend but ultimately failed when momentum dropped.

The $51M Reversal: Two Costly $BTC Trades

Instead of walking away with his profits, as initially suggested, Wynn chose to re-enter the arena in pursuit of his original goal: $1 billion in profits. Unfortunately, his next two $BTC positions, a short and a long, opened between May 25 and May 30, both ended in significant losses.

The first of these was a short entered on May 25 around $107.7K. Wynn quickly scaled the position to $1 billion in notional value, anticipating a breakdown. However, when $BTC failed to breach the $106.5K level and instead reversed sharply toward $109K, Wynn was forced to close the trade, realizing a $15 million loss.

However, the largest loss came with a long position initiated on May 26. Wynn built an $800 million position around the $110K level, expecting a breakout through resistance that never materialized. As the price dipped just above $107K the following day, the high leverage forced him to cut his exposure in half, locking in a $20 million loss.

When $BTC began to reverse and approach $110K again, Wynn rebuilt the position back to $800 million, hoping for a second breakout attempt. But the level held once more, and the price began a steady decline toward $104K. Over the following days, Wynn actively managed his exposure—reducing it to $200 million, then scaling back up to $800 million—before finally closing the position entirely on May 30. The trade ended with a total loss of $36 million, which, combined with the previous $15 million loss, brought Wynn’s total loss across the two positions to $51 million.

With the remaining capital, Wynn made two final attempts between May 30 and 31, a short and a long, with significantly reduced size, $233 million and $69 million respectively. After this final set of trades, Wynn stepped away from the market for a few days, bringing a temporary pause to his activity on Hyperliquid.

But to understand the full picture of his performance, it’s worth stepping back to look at the cumulative capital flows, realized gains and losses, and the net impact of his run on perpetuals.

Closing the Books: Cumulative Impact of the Perps Run

In March 2025, Wynn entered the Hyperliquid arena, depositing $4.65 million in USDC between March 13 and 17 to kick off a high-stakes campaign that would soon capture the attention of the entire CT community. Over time, the cumulative USDC flows, including both fresh capital and profit transfers, reached a total of $21.7 million.

On May 26, two major transactions stood out:a withdrawal of 19 million USDC, immediately followed by a redeposit of the same amount. This marked the moment Wynn exited his $1.3 billion $BTC long, locking in an $18 million profit alongside gains from other positions. In a tweet, he remarked that the run had been fun and that he was leaving the casino with his profits. But just a few hours later, he returned, redepositing the funds on Hyperliquid and resuming trading with massive size, as previously discussed.

By the end of May, Wynn had lost approximately $18.8 million on perpetuals alone (factoring in PnL, fees, and funding) leaving just $2.8 million from the $21.7 million in total inflows.

Source: Hyperliquid, Mirrorly. As of May 31, 2025. Note: This figure reflects only his perps trading history and does not account for spot or vault activity.

Conclusion

James Wynn’s trading journey on Hyperliquid between March and May 2025 was defined by ambition, scale, and extreme volatility. Starting with $4.65 million in capital, he scaled up to manage the largest-ever $BTC position on the platform, peaking at $1.3 billion in notional value.

His high-leverage, high-conviction approach yielded moments of brilliance, including a $25 million win on $PEPE and a peak PnL of nearly $90 million. But the same strategy also led to significant losses, particularly on $BTC, where a series of failed breakout and breakdown trades erased his gains and drove his total Perps PnL to -$19M.

While opinions across CT remain divided, what’s clear is that Wynn’s campaign was one of the most aggressive and public displays of risk appetite in recent trading history. His decisions reflected a mindset built not on caution, but on conviction and presence, driven by the pursuit of a billion-dollar win. Whether this chapter ends here or is just a pause in a longer saga, Wynn has already left a mark few traders ever will.

---

Stay connected for more insights and breakdowns in the upcoming editions.

Follow our highlight trader on Twitter: https://x.com/JamesWynnReal

Join Mirrorly Beta: https://portal.mirrorly.xyz/Account/Register

Subscribe to our Notifications so you don't miss next month's report!