Prominent trader James Wynn (제임스 윈) was liquidated after taking a bitcoin short position on the decentralised exchange (DEX) Hyperliquid, and his account balance plunged to about $900, or roughly 1.35 million won. On April 6, blockchain media outlet BeInCrypto reported that on-chain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence confirmed the liquidation.

Based on on-chain data service HypurrScan, Wynn’s account held only slightly more than $900 after the liquidation, and the loss was tallied at $20 million, or about 30.13 billion won. Arkham confirmed in a social media post: "He once had $100M - his account is now down to its last $900."

His recent history of repeated liquidations was also revisited. Crypto analytics firm Lookonchain said: "He has been liquidated 6 times in the past 2 weeks."

Just before the liquidation over the weekend, Wynn warned that a rebound would be possible only after market conditions worsened further, and he laid out a defensive multi-asset strategy. He planned to short the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq, go long West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude, and selectively buy bitcoin dips with spot funds. He also wrote about bitcoin’s moves, calling it "another low-volume manipulation wick on Sunday" and saying it would "be proven more in the future."

But bitcoin surged in the opposite direction of Wynn’s bet. Market data showed bitcoin rose about 3 percent over the past 24 hours, and hit an intraday high above $70,000 overnight to climb to the highest level in about a week.

A short squeeze triggered in the derivatives market is cited as a backdrop to the rebound. In the rally, about $196 million in short positions across the market were liquidated, and short covering is described as further fuelling the price increase. The total cryptocurrency market capitalisation was also tallied at $2.35 trillion on April 6, up about $89 billion from a low of $2.27 trillion on April 5.

The liquidation is seen as an example of how quickly high-leverage short positions can collapse in the volatile cryptocurrency market. In particular, in a DEX environment, if a sharp short-term jump overlaps with a short squeeze, losses can swell in an instant, again highlighting the importance of risk management.

JAMES WYNN: HYPERLIQUIDATED James Wynn has just been liquidated shorting Bitcoin. He once had $100M - his account is now down to its last $900. pic.twitter.com/aig4o5bLbT