Who is the Contract Whale James Wynn?
Recently, the former PEPE mogul has transformed into a contract whale, frequently opening positions worth hundreds of millions of dollars on Hyperliquid, attracting market attention. As one of the few whales who publicly identified themselves on Hyperliquid and actively engaged in the community, James Wynn’s daily position changes have become a focal point for many investors. What exactly is James Wynn’s background, and how does he influence the entire market through his statements and positions?
The “10U War God” Founded on PEPE
According to James Wynn’s self-description on Twitter, he was born in a “forgotten small town” in England, rife with crime, drugs, alcohol, and poverty. James Wynn stated that he lived in dire circumstances from a young age, “barely scraping by each week.”
In 2022, after coming into contact with cryptocurrencies, James Wynn became one of the 10 U War Gods. He often floated between several ultra-small MEME coins until he later discovered PEPE on iToken. Subsequently, James Wynn chose to heavily invest in PEPE, earning tens of millions of dollars as a result. Previous reports by PANews also confirmed this through on-chain data.
From information on social media, James Wynn began joining Twitter in 2023, with all his initial content focusing almost exclusively on the promotion and advertising of PEPE coins. In April 2023, James Wynn predicted that the market capitalization of PEPE tokens would rise to $4.2 billion, while the market cap at that time was only $4.2 million. A year later, not only did this prediction come true, but it also exceeded his expectations at that time. By October 2024, PEPE’s market capitalization had surpassed $10 billion, becoming one of the highest-valued MEME coins.
Of course, during this period, as one of the largest holders of PEPE coins, James Wynn also reaped enormous rewards. According to previous statistics from PANews, James Wynn’s initial investment in PEPE was only $7,600, and by April 2024, his returns had exceeded $25 million. Given that PEPE later surged approximately threefold, James Wynn’s total earnings could exceed $50 million.
Reputation Deterioration After Harvesting Fans and Transformation
By 2024, with the successful establishment of the PEPE persona, James Wynn’s posts began to cover more MEME coins (such as BIAO, ANDY, WOLF), and he frequently posted about new token contracts, making recommendations. In April 2024, James Wynn recommended a token called ELON and, in the following days, engaged in wild promotions similar to those for PEPE.
At the same time, James Wynn quietly invested in this token using several wallets. Under the influence of his compelling recommendations, many community players began to follow and buy ELON. After the token surged a hundredfold, James Wynn then claimed that the token had problems and announced that he had liquidated his holdings. This series of actions caused ELON’s price to plummet by 70% in a short period, burying many players in the fallout from James Wynn’s liquidation. Such actions severely damaged James Wynn’s reputation in the community, leading people to realize that the MEME deity was not reliable.
Subsequently, James Wynn’s content gradually began to shift, transitioning from a community promoter to an investor and analyst. In the latter half of 2024, he started to focus more on Bitcoin trends, market analysis, and so forth. He also changed his Twitter name from “James Wynn (The GOAT)” to the current “James Wynn Whale.”
$1.2 Billion Position with High-Leverage Gambling
In March 2025, James Wynn officially transitioned to Hyperliquid, depositing around $6 million for contract trading. In just two months, through high-leverage operations on Hyperliquid, as of May 24, James Wynn had increased his profits to approximately $48 million.
Especially in the past month, through frequent high-leverage and large position investments, James Wynn not only consistently placed his operations on the social media hot list but also demonstrated his trading talent or luck with a monthly earning of $36 million.
His trading targets on Hyperliquid were remarkably simple, primarily focusing on Bitcoin and a few MEME coins such as PEPE, TRUMP, and FARTCOIN. For instance, on April 6, 2025, he went long on Bitcoin at an average price of $94,292 with 40x leverage; when Bitcoin’s price rose from $94,000 to $100,000, his floating profit reached $5 million. His 10x leveraged long position in PEPE had a floating profit of as much as $23 million. Trades in TRUMP and FARTCOIN contributed approximately $5 million to $5.57 million and $4.3 million to $5.15 million in profits, respectively.
As of May 24, James Wynn’s total funds on Hyperliquid were approximately $55.8 million, compared to an initial position of $1.25 billion. His overall leverage ratio was about 22 times; at this leverage rate, once the market volatility exceeds 5%, he could face a full liquidation. Therefore, this trading style belongs to a high-risk, high-reward route, which is not suitable for ordinary traders. However, considering that James Wynn had already earned tens of millions of dollars in initial capital from MEME coins such as PEPE, his positions remained within his risk control range. On May 24, James Wynn liquidated his holdings valued at $1.2 billion, incurring a loss of approximately $13.39 million; due to this significant loss from the transaction, his overall earnings fell back to around $40 million.
Looking back at James Wynn’s cryptocurrency trading career, from being relatively unknown to becoming a MEME leader, and then transforming again into a contract trading whale, his experiences seem to align most closely with people’s imagination of stories of wealth in cryptocurrency. He also appears unwilling to be a low-profile person, remaining active on social media despite holding significant wealth. This level of exposure has evidently brought him benefits; during the MEME promotion period, he could leverage his influence to ensure that the MEME coins he invested in always had followers boosting their prices. As he transitioned to contract trading, with increasing market attention, James Wynn’s operations could, to some extent, influence some traders’ judgments about market trends, potentially creating a following effect (though this influence may not be as pronounced as during the MEME coin period).
Overall, James Wynn’s success seems to be a blend of market timing, exceptional courage (or extreme risk-taking spirit), and powerful self-marketing abilities. Ultimately, what James Wynn’s “origin story” leaves for the market may be more questions than answers. Is he a keen trading genius or just a fortunate individual who seized the moment? Will his next step be immense wealth or total liquidation?
This is far from over; the crypto market has never lacked episodic “heroes,” but becoming a “evergreen tree” still requires the test of time.
This article is a collaborative reprint from: PANews