High-profile trader Machi Big Brother saw his Hyperliquid decentralized exchange trading account collapse from $12.25 million to approximately $21,800 on October 15 following a series of forced liquidations on Ethereum (ETH) perpetual futures positions.
Four-Month Trading Run Wiped Out in Hours
Blockchain tracker Lookonchain documented the account's decline across two separate updates on October 15. In its initial report, the tracker noted that Machi Big Brother attempted to manually close positions as prices fell to curb further drawdown, bringing the account balance to $129,000. However, within an hour, a subsequent update confirmed that the trader had been fully liquidated down to $21,800.
On-chain data from Hypurrscan revealed four key ETH-USD perpetual futures liquidation transactions covering individual positions valued between $471,000 and $1.87 million. The liquidated orders included 380 ETH at $2,379, 270 ETH at $2,374, 200 ETH at $2,355, and 800 ETH at $2,331. The rapid liquidations took place within minutes of each other as Ethereum dropped below $2,400, erasing a four-month run that had built the account up from $56,132 on June 25 to a peak of nearly $12.5 million.
Key Takeaways
- Account Collapse: Account balance plummeted from $12.25 million to $21,800 on October 15.
- Liquidated ETH Positions: Four transactions liquidated 1,650 ETH total (380 ETH at $2,379, 270 ETH at $2,374, 200 ETH at $2,355, and 800 ETH at $2,331).
- Initial Capital: The four-month run started with a balance of $56,132 recorded on June 25.
- Historical Perpetuals Loss: Analytics firm Arkham previously tracked cumulative perpetual futures losses for the wallet reaching $77.32 million in May.
Pattern of High-Leverage Volatility
This collapse reflects a recurring pattern of high-leverage trading for the wallet on decentralized derivatives platforms. In February, public data showed holdings dropping from close to nine figures into $28 million in the red over five months. By March, Arkham reported six-month cumulative losses reaching $75.19 million, after the trader had previously been up $44.84 million. In May, Arkham reported an additional $545,000 loss in 24 hours, driving total perpetual futures losses to $77.32 million.
Intermittent recoveries occurred during this timeline. On June 15, Arkham reported the account reached $1.2 million, with a $20 million leveraged ETH long position showing over $1 million in profit following news of a US-Iran peace deal. Beyond perpetual futures, Machi Big Brother proposed buying Friend.tech for $1 million in August after purchasing 11 million FRIEND tokens for $16.7 million, only to see their value slide below $500,000.
Why It Matters
This incident highlights the systemic risk high-leverage perpetual contracts pose to decentralized exchange users during market downturns. Even experienced, high-net-worth traders can suffer near-total capital erasure within minutes when liquidation cascades trigger automated clearing on platforms like Hyperliquid. As public blockchain analytics provide real-time visibility into whale positions, observing these major liquidation thresholds remains critical for evaluating broader market liquidity and leverage risk.
