Infamous 'Hyperunit whale' exits entire ETH position for $250 million loss, left with $53 in account: Arkham

The crypto trader known as the "Hyperunit whale," who rose to notoriety after profiting roughly $200 million by shorting bitcoin and ether minutes before President Trump's tariff announcement triggered a market crash in October, has now suffered a catastrophic loss on a subsequent long position.

Data from Arkham shows the whale has fully exited their ether position on Hyperliquid, realizing a complete loss of approximately $250 million. The Hyperliquid account now holds just $53, effectively wiping out months of accumulated gains.

The loss comes after ether dropped sharply this week, currently trading around $2,400 after a 10% decline over the past 24 hours, according to The Block's Ethereum Price page. On-chain analysts had flagged the whale's position as increasingly precarious as ETH prices declined throughout January, with reports earlier this week showing unrealized losses exceeding $130 million.

From $200 million profit to $250 million loss

The trader first attracted widespread attention in October 2025 when on-chain analyst Eye traced wallet activity to Garrett Jin, the former CEO of BitForex, through ENS domains "ereignis.eth" and "garrettjin.eth." Jin denied owning the funds but acknowledged knowing the individual behind the trades, stating "the fund isn't mine - it's my clients'."

The whale's October short positions, totaling over $1 billion in notional value across bitcoin and ether, were opened just minutes before Trump's announcement of 100% tariffs on Chinese imports. The timing sparked speculation about insider knowledge, though no evidence of improper conduct has been established. The market crash that followed triggered over $18 billion in liquidations industry-wide.

Following that windfall, the trader pivoted to long positions. By mid-January, Arkham data showed the whale had built an ETH long worth over $730 million, with combined exposure across ETH, SOL, and BTC exceeding $900 million.

Yet sharp declines in crypto prices this week led the Hyperunit whale to sell their entire position, with just $53 left in its Hyperliquid account, though the account holds $2.7 billion worth of other crypto per Arkham data. The whale's spectacular loss underscores the risks of leveraged trading even for sophisticated market participants.