October 16, 2025
By Anjali Kochhar
The recent cryptocurrency market meltdown has sparked a global search for an anonymous trader who reportedly made an astonishing US$200 million profit by betting against Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Last week’s sharp crash wiped out around US$19 billion in market value, leading to the liquidation of over 1.6 million leveraged traders within just 24 hours. Amid the chaos, one trader emerged as the big winner after successfully shorting Bitcoin and Ether, according to blockchain intelligence firm Arkham.
These trades took place on Hyperliquid, a decentralised exchange, just moments before U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 100% tariff on all Chinese imports. The perfect timing of the trades has fueled widespread speculation that the trader may have acted with insider knowledge or gained early access to the information that triggered the market crash.
Social media was soon flooded with theories about the mysterious trader’s identity. Some users even speculated about connections to prominent figures such as Barron Trump. However, much of the attention later turned to Garrett Jin, a Chinese crypto investor who previously held executive positions at major exchanges, including Bitforex and Huobi (now HTX).
The speculation intensified after Binance founder Zhao Changpeng shared a post by a blockchain analyst suggesting that Jin might be linked to the wallet address behind the winning trades. The analyst, known as “eyeonchains,” claimed that the address could be traced to Jin.
In response, Jin publicly denied any connections to the Trump family and rejected the insider trading allegations. He also criticized Zhao for allegedly exposing his personal information on social media.
As of now, there is no verified evidence linking Jin or anyone else directly to the massive short positions. Investigations are ongoing, but the incident has reignited long-standing concerns about market manipulation and transparency within the decentralized finance space.
Whether the trader’s success was a product of luck, foresight, or privileged information, the episode highlights the growing challenges regulators face in monitoring and enforcing fair play in the largely anonymous world of crypto trading.
About the author
Anjali Kochhar covers cryptocurrency and blockchain stories in India as well as globally. Having been in the field of media and journalism for over four years now, she has developed a sharp news sense and works hard to present information that goes beyond the obvious. She is an avid reader and loves writing on a wide range of subjects.
