James Wynn’s Triple Crypto Bet in PEPE, DOGE, ETH Backfires: $17K in Referral Payouts Lost

Market data platform Lookonchain today that high-leverage trader James Wynn has once again suffered losses on the perpetual futures exchange Hyperliquid. Wynn had recently claimed $23,117 in referral rewards and used the funds to open new long positions on PEPE, Ethereum (ETH), and Dogecoin (DOGE).

However, the trades unraveled quickly. A series of liquidations reduced his balance to just $5,952, wiping out $17,165 within hours.

This follows the ongoing bearish momentum in the crypto market, where Bitcoin has dipped to $108K over the past day. At the same time, ETH crashed to $4,300 just days after hitting an all-time high of $4,950. High-leverage traders like Wynn continue to have it tough in such a bearish market.

The latest setback continues Wynn’s volatile run in the market. Just two days ago, on-chain data showed him holding a 25x ETH long worth $139,215, which briefly showed unrealized gains of over $14,000. He was also running a 10x DOGE long valued at more than $200,000.

But Wynn’s broader track record paints a darker picture. Since May, he has been liquidated multiple times, losing over $22 million from a single wallet. His most infamous trade was a 40x Bitcoin long worth nearly $20 million, which at one point showed $100 million in paper profits before being completely wiped out.

Wynn has continued funding his bets through a mix of stablecoin deposits and referral rewards from Hyperliquid. Between June and July, he deposited more than $1.3 million on the platform, only to be liquidated nine times in succession. Even after switching to a new account, the same cycle repeated.

Now, his $23,000 referral payout has been reduced to less than $6,000 in just one week.

Despite the repeated blowups, Wynn has developed a cult-like following on social media. His bold calls — from predicting Pepe’s market cap surge to chasing high-leverage bets on Bitcoin and Ethereum — have kept him in the spotlight, even as his trading record continues to tilt toward massive losses.

Wynn remains one of the most closely watched figures in high-leverage crypto trading — not for consistent profits, but for his willingness to return to the market no matter how steep the losses.