Bitcoin crash sparks search for mystery crypto trader who profited US$200 million

Speculation points to Chinese crypto investor Garrett Jin, who acknowledges his ties with the investors responsible for the short trade

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Bitcoin and ether, the world’s two largest cryptocurrencies, suffered a crash last week. Photo: AFP

Published: 4:32pm, 14 Oct 2025Updated: 11:31am, 15 Oct 2025

The global cryptocurrency industry is searching for the trader who made massive gains betting against bitcoin and ether, as the sector grapples with the aftermath of a market rout that wiped out US$19 billion last week.

While the crash on Friday liquidated more than 1.6 million traders within just 24 hours, some investors had profited handsomely – including one trader who earned nearly US$200 million from short positions on bitcoin and ether, according to blockchain analytics firm Arkham.

Those trades, executed on the decentralised exchange Hyperliquid shortly before US President Donald Trump announced an additional 100 per cent tariff on all Chinese imports, have sparked a search for the person behind them and raised suspicions of insider trading.

Speculation on social media has ranged from Barron Trump, the youngest son of the US president, to Chinese cryptocurrency investor Garrett Jin, who served as CEO of the now-defunct crypto exchange Bitforex and was an operations director at Huobi, now known as HTX, according to Crunchbase.

Public scrutiny of Jin grew after Binance founder Zhao Changpeng shared on Sunday a blockchain analyst’s social media post that accused Jin of being the trader in question. The analyst, known by the handle “eyeonchains”, said the blockchain wallet address responsible for the bitcoin and ether short trades was linked to Jin.

In a social media response on Monday, Jin denied any connection to the Trump family or engagement in insider trading. He criticised Zhao for exposing his “personal and private information”.

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Bitcoin crash sparks search for mystery crypto trader who profited US$200 million

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Speculation points to Chinese crypto investor Garrett Jin, who acknowledges his ties with the investors responsible for the short trade

Speculation points to Chinese crypto investor Garrett Jin, who acknowledges his ties with the investors responsible for the short trade