Crypto Trader James Wynn Faces Repeated PEPE Liquidations

James Wynn’s latest foray into leveraged crypto trading has ended in familiar fashion – with massive liquidations. According to on-chain analytics platform Lookonchain, Wynn suffered a complete liquidation during the recent market dip, continuing his pattern of making and losing hundreds of millions through high-risk bets on crypto perpetual futures markets. The market chaos that triggered Wynn’s downfall also partially liquidated fellow trader Machi Big Brother, who has now lost over $53 million on Hyperliquid in the past month alone.

Despite the immediate setback, Wynn demonstrated his characteristic resilience by reopening a 10x long position on meme token PEPE shortly after the initial liquidation. However, this bold move proved ill-timed, as he faced another partial liquidation less than six hours later. The rapid sequence of losses occurred amid turbulent market conditions that saw significant declines in both major cryptocurrencies and meme coins. Lookonchain’s subsequent tweet captured the pattern perfectly: “Once again! Both James Wynn and Machi Big Brother got liquidated in the latest market crash! These two are like brothers in arms – never giving up on their longs, yet always getting wiped out.”

While Wynn’s trading losses capture headlines, deeper concerns are emerging about his meme coin venture YEPE. Blockchain analytics firm Bubblemap recently revealed troubling patterns in the token’s distribution, with nearly 60% of YEPE’s supply concentrated among insiders. This high concentration level suggests potential market manipulation risks, as such distribution patterns often precede coordinated pump-and-dump schemes.

The Bubblemap analysis identified that many of these insider wallets were funded through the same centralized exchanges, including LBank, KuCoin, and MEXC, creating what appeared to be a coordinated accumulation effort. This pattern mirrors concerns that have plagued other meme coin launches, where insiders position themselves before promoting the asset to retail investors. The report further claimed that Wynn’s coin promotions typically follow influencer-driven hype cycles engineered to attract retail demand while insiders quietly offload their holdings.

What makes these allegations particularly concerning is Wynn’s history of turning a modest $7,000 PEPE bet into millions, raising questions about whether similar insider advantages were at play in previous successful trades. Despite the serious nature of these allegations, Wynn continues to receive public endorsements from major industry players, leading critics to warn that such backing may normalize insider-dominated markets and allow manufactured momentum to masquerade as organic community growth.

The repeated liquidations of high-profile traders like Wynn and Machi Big Brother highlight the extreme risks inherent in leveraged crypto trading, particularly in the volatile meme coin sector. The perpetual futures markets that enable such high-leverage positions have become arenas where fortunes can be made and lost in hours, creating a trading environment that critics argue resembles gambling more than traditional investing.

The allegations surrounding YEPE’s token distribution point to broader systemic issues in the crypto space. The concentration of tokens among insiders who use coordinated strategies across exchanges like LBank, KuCoin, and MEXC undermines market integrity and exposes retail investors to significant risks. When combined with influencer-driven promotion cycles, these patterns create an environment where retail traders often enter positions just as insiders are preparing to exit.

As analytics platforms like Lookonchain and Bubblemap continue to expose these patterns through on-chain analysis, the crypto industry faces increasing pressure to address these structural issues. The case of James Wynn serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of leveraged trading and the need for greater transparency in token distributions. Until these issues are resolved, the cycle of massive gains followed by devastating losses – and the potential for market manipulation – is likely to continue plaguing the crypto markets.