A Crypto trader who is well known by the pseudonym Hyperunit and former BitForex CEO Garrett Jin has suffered a staggering loss of $250 million after closing a long position on Ethereum. Arkham, one of the leading blockchain analytics platforms, has officially reported the loss through its X account. The post stated that the Hyperunit whale, linked to Garrett Jin, had sold his entire ETH position, realizing a complete loss of $250 million, and that he had only $53 left in his Hyperliquid account.
According to the latest reports, the investor exited the trade amid a market downturn, as Ethereum tumbled more than 10% to below $2,200. At the moment, Ethereum, the world’s second‑largest cryptocurrency by market cap, is trading at $2,273, reflecting a 6% decline over the past 24 hours.
Arkham highlighted the trader’s precarious position and mounting unrealized losses, noting in a January 29 post that they had already exceeded $130 million at the time.
Arkham stated that the Hyperunit whale, linked to Garrett Jin, was buying back ETH after offloading almost $100 million worth of ETH from his position, and that he had already purchased $60.54 million worth of ETH. It added that the whale had been long 223.34K ETH the previous week and, at the lows, had offloaded over 30K ETH, resulting in a loss of around $9 million in PnL. Arkham further noted that he was now back in the market and was still long more than $750 million worth of ETH, SOL, and BTC.
Hyperunit whale has been a center of attention since October 2025, when he reportedly earned over $190 million from Ethereum and Bitcoin short positions. His remarkable success in short positions came just before U.S. President Donald Trump announced 100% tariffs on Chinese imports last year. Arkham’s latest data indicates that the Hyperliquid position has been fully closed, while the trading account continues to hold other cryptocurrencies elsewhere. Neither Jin nor Hyperliquid has officially confirmed the $250 million ETH liquidation, but the analysts are backing Arkham’s findings and warning investors against high-leverage trading practices.
Cryptovcdegen, an analyst X handle recently posted the whale’s situation and the advantage HLP got. It explained that the whale had been liquidated for more than $700 million, had lost roughly $270 million over two weeks, and had an all-time PnL of negative $128 million since October, leaving an account balance of just $53.62 despite generating $5.2 billion in trading volume. It also explained that HLP had profited from the liquidation by around $15 million, delivering a 5.8% return for depositors from a single trade, a monthly APR of over 100%, and a TVL of $265.8 million. The explanation added that the vault had taken over the whale’s liquidated long position of approximately 98,500 ETH and was already up $13.8 million, describing it as a classic HLP move that made money from others’ trading mistakes.
This incident and Jin’s whale status further intensified regulatory concerns, especially related to BitForex’s shutdown in 2022 due to regulatory pressures and liquidity issues. The whale losses and massive liquidation explain why the cryptocurrency sector is considered one of the most vulnerable ones in the world. The traders should assess the financial risks and must possess a strategic plan that aligns with the constantly changing dimensions of the crypto space.
