In retrospect it was obvious it would end badly, but few expected the wipeout to be this fast. The trader known across crypto circles as "qwatio" has officially blown up on Hyperliquid after going all-in with leverage that left no room for error.
What began as a $154 million XRP short position, as per Onchain Lens, layered on top of a massive 40x bet against Bitcoin, turned into a spectacular loss of $3.44 million in just a matter of a weekend.
The setup looked reckless from the start. Using $7.5 million in margin to control 2.78 million XRP, the trader went 20x short at around $2.71 per token, just as the market hovered near the $2.70 support. The danger zone was clear: liquidation would hit at $3.06. That is only a 13% cushion, and in crypto, 13% is a weekend swing.
No mercy
When XRP began edging higher, the position started bleeding fast, but instead of cutting back exposure, the trader doubled down.
At the same time, his Bitcoin short — 1,366 BTC with 40x leverage — collapsed outright. That alone would have been a fatal blow for most. Yet "qwatio" shifted his chips back into XRP, compounding the risk.
The result was liquidation notices flashing across Hyperliquid and one of the most notorious accounts on-chain torching millions in record time.
Wallet data shows $785,000 remains, at most. In crypto's high-leverage game, the outcome is not shocking, but it shows that even whales can fail.
Dan Burgin
Vladislav Sopov
U.Today Editorial Team