The 2025 Whale Tragedy: Mansion Kidnappings, Supply Chain Poisoning, and Hundreds of Millions Liquidated

Original Title: "Top 10 Painful Lessons from the 2025 Crypto Market: From Liquidations to Trusting 'Customer Service', Whales Paid Hundreds of Millions in 'Tuition Fees'"

Original Author: angelilu, Foresight News

The crypto market in 2025 resembled a high-speed express train. Looking back from the platform, people only see the survivors celebrating with raised glasses inside the carriages, rarely noticing those passengers who were thrown off the tracks.

This year, we not only witnessed gamblers going wild in the contract markets, but also saw the cruel infiltration of the Web3 dark forest law into the physical world. The stories of getting rich are similar, but the ways to go to zero are endlessly varied. We have reconstructed the loss records of several typical figures in 2025—among them are billionaires, tech geeks, legendary gamblers, and even ordinary people who just wanted to save money.

Trading Section

Machi Big Brother Becomes the On-chain "Liquidation Champion"

· Identity: Well-known singer, entrepreneur, NFT whale

· Losses: Liquidated 71 times in just the first 19 days of November; single-day loss of $21.28 million

Huang Licheng's PnL profit and loss curve, source: Hyperbot

Turning the clock back three months, Machi Big Brother was still a winner in the Hyperliquid ecosystem, holding large positions in HYPE, XPL, and ETH, with unrealized profits once exceeding $44 million. By late September and early October, XPL's price collapsed (maximum drawdown 46%), and HYPE also saw a significant pullback. He failed to take profits in time, causing his unrealized loss in a single token to quickly expand to over $8.7 million.

With the "10·11" market crash, Machi Big Brother officially turned to losses. But turning to losses was not the end for him—it was the beginning of his unlimited opening of positions. He tried to recover by going long on ETH with high leverage. He held about 7,000–30,000 ETH long positions (leverage often at 20x–25x), but every time ETH had a sharp drop, it would trigger his liquidation line.

From November 1 to 19, in just 19 days, Machi Big Brother was forcibly liquidated 71 times. This means that in nearly three weeks, he experienced almost four liquidations per day on average, earning him the title of on-chain "liquidation champion." But he kept recharging, getting liquidated, recharging again, and getting liquidated again. As of writing, his total perpetual contract loss on Hyperliquid has reached $21.2 million. From earning $45.66 million to losing $21.2 million, he experienced an asset drawdown of over $66 million in less than three months. Although there was a brief recovery, he is still in a state of deep loss and frequent margin replenishment.

Unlike ordinary people, Machi Big Brother Huang Licheng also enjoys the halo of a superstar. In the 1990s, he was the soul of Taiwan's L.A. Boyz, a pioneering idol who brought authentic American hip-hop into the Chinese music scene. This is not the first time Machi Big Brother has played the role of "retail savior." Everyone must remember the NFT battlefield of 2023. To compete for BLUR airdrop points, he frantically boosted trading volume in this bottomless pit. The ending was tragic: he did receive airdrop tokens worth $1.9 million, but at the cost of losing 12,000 ETH (worth $25 million at the time).

James Wynn's Billion-Dollar Gamble

· Identity: James Wynn

· Losses: Opened a $1.25 billion bitcoin long position, lost $100 million in a week

If Machi Big Brother's story is "the pastime of the rich," then James Wynn's story is like that of a mortal who flew too high and had his wings melted by the sun.

Also a contract trader, James Wynn's legend began with PEPE but exploded on the Hyperliquid contract battlefield. In March 2025, James Wynn entered Hyperliquid with $25 million earned from PEPE to start contract trading. This $25 million was made from an initial capital of just $7,600 by heavily betting on the meme coin PEPE in 2023. But spot gains were not enough for him. From March to April, he aggressively went long on PEPE and ETH, earning another $25 million, turning into a super whale with $50 million in hand.

In May 2025, James Wynn set his sights on bitcoin, which was then approaching its all-time high of $110,000. At that time, James Wynn did something big on-chain: near bitcoin's historical high of about $108,000, he maxed out 40x leverage and crazily opened a massive long position with a notional value of $1.25 billion. What does this number mean? His single on-chain position exceeded the reserves of many small countries. He tried to use this $1.25 billion leverage to pry open the door to becoming the "world's richest man."

But a sharp bitcoin correction soon followed, breaking through the $105,000 mark, becoming James Wynn's nightmare. In just a week, his invaluable contract melted away like an iceberg in the sun. In the end, he had to cut his losses and exit, losing nearly $100 million. Overnight, the astronomical sum he earned from PEPE was almost entirely returned to the market. After the collapse, he left a nihilistic quote on Twitter: "Money isn't real."

Unwilling to give up, James Wynn tried to "make a comeback" in November, but he misjudged the direction—he bet that bitcoin would fall below $92,000 and went all-in short with his remaining funds. Data recorded his final frenzy: in just two months, he was forcibly liquidated 45 times; on the worst day, he was liquidated 12 times in 12 hours. The former "meme coin prophet" had now become a gambler screaming at the candlestick chart. He swore on social media: "I'm going to sell all my stablecoins to short. Either make hundreds of millions or go completely bankrupt."

Spot Whale Exits with $125 Million Loss

· Identity: Whale who shorted 66,000 ETH by borrowing coins

· Losses: Unrealized loss of $125 million on a single position; transferred $140 million to Binance to dump in 8 hours

Besides contracts, whales holding spot assets can also suffer huge losses. The "whale who shorted 66,000 ETH by borrowing coins" was once a market hunter, adept at large-scale short arbitrage using lending protocols. But this time, the hunter became the prey.

Earning $24 million by shorting was not enough for him—he wanted more, aiming to "profit from both long and short." On November 5, after closing his short, he immediately switched sides and began frantically bottom-fishing. In just nine days by November 14, he seemed possessed, transferring a total of $1.187 billion to Binance, withdrawing 422,000 ETH, and raising his average holding price to $3,413. For this huge gamble, he even used up to $485 million in on-chain leveraged loans.

The market gave this greedy player a harsh slap. As ETH's price kept falling, breaking below $3,000, his "bottom-fishing" turned into "deeply trapped." On-chain data recorded his most desperate moment: at the worst stage in November, his massive long position had an unrealized loss of up to $133 million. The $24.48 million profit from shorting was instantly swallowed by this huge loss, even losing $100 million of principal. The former "shorting god" plus borrowed money became a "leverage gambler" burdened with $480 million in debt.

On November 16, the whale began a major retreat, redeeming 177,000 ETH from Aave and starting to deposit 44,000 ETH (worth $140 million) to Binance in batches, with an actual loss of $125 million.

The Whale Who Fell in "Chinese Meme" Tokens

· Identity: Whale who heavily invested in Chinese meme tokens at the top

· Losses: Total loss of $3.598 million (single token loss of $2.49 million)

Besides stubbornly holding ETH, many also suffered losses by stubbornly holding meme coins.

In October 2025, while the market focus rotated between AI and mainstream coins, this whale got lost in the narrative maze of "Chinese meme" tokens.

Like a persistent stamp collector, he spent $4.49 million to build positions in a series of Chinese meme tokens on the BSC chain: "Binance Life," "Customer Service Xiao He," "Hakimi." He heavily bought "Binance Life" at an average price of $0.3485, increasing his position to $4.08 million, becoming the 7th largest individual holder of the token. The market gave him countless chances to escape, but he chose to be a "diamond hand."

Eight days after his initial position, his meme assets had shrunk by 56.5%, with an unrealized loss of over $3 million. All tokens except "Hakimi" collapsed, but he did not liquidate and kept chasing the price as it rose. Finally, in early November, his faith collapsed under the gravity of the zeroing candlestick chart, and he liquidated all tokens in 50 minutes. The ending was tragic: a total loss of $3.598 million. Of this, just "Binance Life" alone cost him $2.49 million.

This whale paid $3.6 million for a lesson: in the world of meme coins, liquidity drying up is scarier than contracts. Once the trend turns bad, every second is an escape window—holding on only leads to zero.

An "Unknown Hacker's" Retribution

· Identity: On-chain hacker / top "reverse indicator"

· Losses: $8.88 million in trading losses in October alone

This may be the most "satisfying" loss story of 2025. We usually think of hackers as cold, rational predators, but this "unknown hacker" proved with his actions: he only understands code, not candlestick charts.

In March and August this year, he stole huge sums through technical means and should have disappeared to enjoy his wealth. However, he made a fatal mistake—trying to trade crypto with stolen money. As it turned out, the market makers in crypto are even more ruthless than hackers.

He "bought high and sold low" on ETH with precision. In early October, he bought 8,637 ETH at an average price of $4,400 (total value about $38.01 million). After holding for just 10 days, he ran into the "10·11" flash crash. In panic, not only did he fail to hold on, but he also sold everything at the bottom price of $3,778, losing $5.37 million in one trade.

In mid-October, he panic-sold again during the decline, losing $3.24 million. The most comical scene happened an hour after cutting his losses—seeing the market rebound, he couldn't resist buying back over 2,000 ETH at a higher price. The market then fell again, forcing him to cut losses once more. By October 18, in just half a month, his frequent chasing and panic selling had accumulated losses of $8.88 million.

This hacker's personal experience tells us: stealing money requires skill, but keeping money requires temperament. In front of volatile candlestick charts, even hackers are just green retail investors.

Attack Section

User Babur: The Failed "Multisig" and the Costly "Double Click"

· Identity: On-chain whale

· Losses: About $27 million (some funds already laundered into Tornado Cash)

If some losses are due to overly complex technology, then Babur's $27 million loss was due to "terrible habits."

At the end of December 2025, SlowMist founder Yu Jian and CertiK successively disclosed this case. Whale Babur's Solana and Ethereum addresses were looted, with losses reaching $27 million. Regrettably, Babur actually had some security awareness—he used the industry-standard Safe multisig wallet to store assets.

Theoretically, a multisig wallet requires multiple private key signatures to transfer funds, making it very secure. But the investigation found a fatal rookie mistake: Babur stored both private keys required for the multisig on the same computer. This is like buying the world's strongest safe (multisig), needing two keys to open it, but hanging both keys on the safe's handle.

After he double-clicked a malicious file ("poisoned") on his computer, the virus easily took all the private keys. Yu Jian commented: "Real-world poisoning attacks are probably very simple, nothing advanced, and many threats are old news."

Later, CertiK detected that the hacker had transferred 4,250 ETH (about $14 million) into Tornado Cash for mixing. Babur paid $27 million for the simplest lesson: if private keys are not physically separated, even the most advanced multisig is just a thin layer of protection.

Suji Yan: The "Missing 11 Minutes" at a Birthday Party

· Identity: Founder of Mask Network

· Losses: $4 million (nightmare on his 29th birthday)

On February 27, 2025, what should have been a joyful celebration for Mask Network founder Suji Yan's 29th birthday turned into a Rashomon-like nightmare. This was not a sophisticated dark web code attack, but a chilling "insider" crisis. According to Suji's account, he was celebrating with a dozen friends at a private party. Just because he left his phone unattended for a few minutes to use the restroom, fate began to turn.

On-chain data shows that in the following 11 minutes, the hacker calmly and manually transferred over $4 million in assets from his public wallet. SlowMist founder Yu Jian confirmed that these funds were quickly exchanged for ETH and dispersed to seven addresses.

"The operation was manual and lasted over 11 minutes." This means that behind the laughter and toasts, someone (or lurking malware) used this brief window to complete the heist right under his nose. Suji admitted: "I trust my friends, but this is a nightmare for anyone." This became the coldest lesson of Web3 in 2025: never store the private keys of a hot wallet containing huge assets on a phone you carry for socializing and taking photos.

Sam Altman's Ex-Boyfriend's Night of Terror

· Identity: Well-known tech investor, Sam Altman's ex-boyfriend

· Losses: $11 million + personal injury

If on-chain theft is "losing money to avoid disaster," then Lachy Groom's experience completely shattered the illusion that "decentralized assets are safer." On a Saturday in November, a robber disguised as a courier tricked his way into Lachy's San Francisco mansion. Lachy was not only held at gunpoint but also tied up with tape and beaten. For 90 minutes, the robber forced him to hand over passwords and emptied $11 million in crypto assets from his accounts. This case represents the increasingly "dimensionality-reducing attack" of Web3 crime: hackers no longer need to break code—they just need to break into your home.

According to Bloomberg, in the past three years, "wrench attacks" targeting crypto holders have surged. According to a database maintained by Jameson Lopp, co-founder of crypto security company Casa, about 60 such attacks have been recorded globally this year, causing tens of millions of dollars in losses.

Douyin Buyer: Cold Wallet "Poisoned" by the Supply Chain

· Identity: Ordinary investor

· Losses: 50 million RMB (about $7.08 million)

This is a typical case of "cognitive harvesting." An investor, in pursuit of so-called absolute security, decided to use a hardware cold wallet to store assets. But he made a fatal mistake: he bought a "discounted" cold wallet on Douyin.

What he didn't know was that the wallet had already been tampered with before leaving the factory, and the private key had long been leaked. When he confidently stored 50 million RMB, he was actually handing the money directly to the hacker. Hours later, the assets were laundered clean through Huione. This expensive lesson tells us: the biggest security loophole is often human greed for bargains.

Whale Loses $91.4 Million Trusting "Official Customer Service"

· Identity: "Obedient" whale holding $300 million in bitcoin

· Losses: 783 bitcoin (worth about $91.4 million at the time)

On August 19, 2025, a whale fell victim to a "social engineering attack." He didn't click any suspicious links or download any viruses—he just answered a phone call. On the other end was a gentle, professional "hardware wallet official senior engineer," informing him of a critical vulnerability in his device and instructing him to cooperate with an "immediate firmware upgrade." During a one-hour guided call, the whale completely let down his guard and personally handed over 783 bitcoin worth about $91.4 million. After the malicious transfer, the funds underwent a typical money laundering process, being deposited multiple times into Wasabi Wallet (a privacy tool commonly used to obfuscate tracking).

Similarly, in 2024, there was already a similar case, with an even larger amount—the victim lost about $300 million worth of bitcoin.

Survivorship Bias

These 10 names, with hundreds of millions in tuition fees, show us the full picture of the Web3 dark forest: there are no absolute winners here—hackers can steal code but lose to market makers in the secondary market; there is no absolute security—Babur's technical defenses are no match for real-world "poisoning"; there are no absolute fortresses—Lachy's mansion can't stop a robber's gun, and the whale who trusted "official customer service" can't resist the blind obedience deep in human nature.

Everyone on this list was once a leader or lucky person in their field. If there is a survival rule that must be remembered in 2025, perhaps it is not "how to get rich," but "how to survive."

In the crypto market, surviving is far more important than how much you earn. After all, only those who survive are qualified to tell next year's story.

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