The “October Short” Whale Zeroed Out
One of crypto’s most profitable bears just gave it all back. In a massive deleveraging event on the decentralized exchange Hyperliquid, a single trader was liquidated for over $220 million this weekend as Ether (ETH) collapsed amid escalating geopolitical tensions.
The forced closure of the leveraged long position, the largest single liquidation of the year, acted as rocket fuel for the downside. As the position was unwound on-chain, it drained order book liquidity, accelerating ETH’s slide and contributing to a broader market rout that saw $2.5 billion in total liquidations across the sector.
Identity and Impact
On-chain sleuths and community reports have identified the trader as Garrett Jin, a Hong Kong-based entity previously celebrated for netting over $150 million by shorting the market’s top in October 2025. This time, the strategy failed.
According to reports, Jin had flipped bullish, betting heavily on an ETH rebound to $4,500. Instead, a “Warsh Shock” combined with headlines of military strikes in Gaza sent the market spiraling. The Hyperliquid “HyperTracker” dashboard displayed the carnage in real-time, showing the trader’s PnL plummeting from nine-figure gains to a total wipeout.
“The trader who survived October with profits intact just learned the same lesson in reverse, as his unrealized gains on a transparent platform became targets. Without disciplined exits, winners become losers when the crowd sees the position.”
Institutional Fallout
This event is not just a personal tragedy; it’s a market structure signal. The sheer size of the position on Hyperliquid, a decentralized perpetuals exchange, highlights the migration of whale-tier capital away from centralized venues like Binance. However, it also exposes the fragility of on-chain liquidity during weekend sessions when market makers pull bids.
With Ether-based positions accounting for $1.1 billion of the weekend’s losses, the “wealth effect” in the DeFi ecosystem has taken a severe hit. Traders are now pricing in a prolonged period of volatility as the market absorbs the supply shock.
