How One Trader Blew $12.5M, In an Ethereum Trading Nightmare

Key Insights:

• qwatio lost $12.5 M across eight liquidations in a week.
• A 25× ETH position blew at a $2,534 liquidation price.
• Whale hunters attacked leveraged BTC and ETH bets.
• Another trader turned $6.8 K into $1.5 M in two weeks.

Crypto trading nightmares hit home this week as one anonymous account lost $12.5 million across eight liquidations. Underscoring the perils of high‑leverage positions in volatile markets.

Blockchain analytics service Lookonchain reported that trader “qwatio” was liquidated eight times in the seven days. This happened between till June 30, 2025, for a cumulative loss of $12.5 million.

The string of forced closures began with six liquidations between June 23 and June 26. Thus, wiping out roughly $10 million of margin at that point.

Ethereum Bet Faces 25X Leverage Blowout

In the latest liquidation on Monday, a 25X‑leveraged Ethereum (ETH) position was partially closed at a price of $2,534, as ETH traded between $2,425 and $2,519 over the prior 24 hours.

That position alone accounted for a multimillion‑dollar loss. The same account’s Bitcoin (BTC) position was also margin‑called, with a new liquidation price set at $109,170 per coin.

The June carnage starkly contrasts with March’s results, when qwatio posted a $6.8 million profit in a single day. At that time, the trader executed a 50×‑leveraged long on ETH and BTC just before President Trump’s March 9 executive order to create a crypto reserve, securing gains amid a market surge.

The same month saw a $3.46 million 50× position on the MELANIA memecoin and a defended 40× BTC bet, illustrating the trader’s appetite for extreme leverage.

Lookonchain has noted that “whale hunters”—entities that track and trigger liquidations on high‑value positions—have focused on qwatio’s trades, amplifying the account’s losses.

Traders often add margin to stave off forced closures, but in this cycle, rapid price swings and coordinated targeting proved too much.

Bitcoin’s consolidation around $107,500 and Ethereum’s narrow $100‑band swings have squeezed leveraged traders.

With ETH down roughly 3.5% from its June 20 peak and BTC off 4% from recent highs, margin calls have surged platform‑wide.

Industry data show over $350 million in liquidations across major derivatives venues in the past week, the highest weekly total since April.

Parallel Drama: James Wynn’s Roller‑Coaster

Meanwhile, multimillionaire trader James Wynn returned to headline news with his own leverage saga. Lookonchain reported on June 25 that Wynn opened a 40× BTC short for $37,000 at a $108,630 liquidation price.

He closed that short within hours, flipped to a 40× long at $107,250, and narrowly escaped another margin call. Wynn has lost nearly $100 million on leveraged BTC bets since late May, including a $25 million wipeout on June 4.

Industry analysts warn that leveraged positions beyond 10× carry acute liquidation risk unless traders apply rigorous stop‑loss and diversification rules.

Amid these headlines‑grabbing losses, a contrasting success story emerged. Another anonymous account turned $6,800 into $1.5 million in profit over two weeks while providing over 3% of maker‑side liquidity on a major exchange.

That trader’s conservative leverage and diversified strategy underscore a widening performance gap between high‑stakes gamblers and prudent allocators.

As regulators and exchanges weigh new margin rules and liquidation protocols, the qwatio saga serves as a cautionary tale.

Platforms are discussing tiered leverage caps, auto‑deleveraging safeguards and enhanced real‑time monitoring. In a market where a single price swing can trigger eight forced liquidations in a week, both retail traders and institutions may rethink the role of leverage in their crypto strategies.

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