“He’s either the greatest trader of our generation—or the most reckless.” That’s the line that seems to follow James Wynn wherever he goes on the crypto timeline. In a recent YouTube breakdown TraderMayne walks us through the rapid ascent—and even faster implosion—of one of the most notorious onchain traders of 2024. Wynn, known for his high-conviction, high-leverage trading on Hyperliquid, turned a $7k $PEPE bet into a billion-dollar portfolio. He became a degen hero. And then, in the span of a week, he lost almost everything. Wynn’s claim to fame was an early bet on PEPE that ballooned into generational wealth. He compounded those wins with outsized positions on meme coins, Trump tokens, and even a $60 million swing on SUI. All of this executed via Hyperliquid. TraderMayne makes the case that Wynn wasn’t stupid. In fact, he may have been too smart. His entries were sharp. His reads were aggressive, and often right. His win rate? Surprisingly consistent.
Hit PLAY to watch TraderMayne break it down for us.
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Wynn's portfolio after the liquidations
Wynn was posting everything in real-time. His charts. His balances. His entries. His exits. It became performance art. The big blowup came when Wynn went long 11,588 BTC on 40x leverage. That’s more than $1 billion in notional exposure. Everything peaked and then plummeted. Then came a Trump tweet about China tariffs. The market dipped just 2–4%. A minor pullback—just a few percentage points—was enough to obliterate Wynn’s position. Bitcoin dropped below his liquidation threshold (~$105k), triggering a meltdown. Onchain events led to hundreds of millions wiped, with several $55M+ liquidations. Within days, he racked up losses of around $60–$100 million, ending the month with virtually nothing—just $23 left. And everyone watched on as it happened real-time. TraderMayne puts it simply: “Imagine losing $10 million on a trade, and the first thing you see is 500 people replying ‘L + ratio.'”
"The most impressive implosion I've ever seen" - TraderMayne.
There’s another layer here—one that’s less about emotion and more about math. Even with a strong win rate, Wynn was reportedly spending millions on trading fees. According to Hyperliquid data, over $2 million in fees were racked up in May alone. And when you’re flipping positions that large, every basis point counts. Mayne’s tone throughout is part admiration, part concern. Wynn was living the degen dream. But even for the best, the line between fearless and foolish is razor thin.
What can the rest of us learn?
Leverage is an accelerant, not a strategy
Conviction without exits is just a gamble.
If CT is cheering you on, double-check your risk settings.
