Whale with Nearly Nine-Figure Unrealized Gains Reveals Why They Stopped Trading on HyperLiquid

Original Article Title: A Difficult Personal Decision
Original Article Author: @TheWhiteWhaleV2
Translation: Peggy, BlockBeats

Editor's Note: Following the 10.10 Incident, the crypto industry has undergone a painful yet necessary introspection. When the failure of a centralized exchange was enough to trigger a network-wide liquidation cascade, how much pressure can the "decentralization" we trust truly withstand?

The author of this article is a well-known trader with extensive experience in crypto trading and over 70,000 followers on platform X, aiming to achieve a $100 million trading record. By August of this year, his publicly recorded overall gains on HyperLiquid had reached $95 million, and he stated that when including the performance on other platforms, the total had "surpassed $100 million." As of October, his career P&L remained positive, maintaining an "eight-figure profit for the year."

However, on the day of 10.10, he experienced his first-ever liquidation in a network-wide liquidation cascade, with a single loss of about $62 million, representing a drawdown of approximately 62%. Even so, he emphasized that he was "still in profit" and continued to rebuild his position through methods such as selling HYPE tokens.

He had previously praised Jeff, the founder of HyperLiquid, as the "Nobel Prize winner in crypto," but today, he chose to leave HyperLiquid. In his view, this decision was not due to disappointment but rather a shift in values. He called on the industry to move from "protocol protection" to "user protection," transitioning from celebrating zero bad debt to a genuinely meaningful risk buffer mechanism. After all, a mature financial system would never treat "good luck" and "hope" as the final safety net.

Below is the original article:

The Protocol Isn't Dead, but the Users Are

I have made a personal decision: to no longer trade on HyperLiquid.

I want to emphasize the word "personal" specifically—and it was a very difficult decision. I have not asked anyone to follow me; I just choose to act according to the evolution of my values.

Many people have witnessed the evolution of my thoughts along this journey. As humans, we should evolve, reflect, let go of old frameworks, and build better new ones.

And I know, many say not to develop an emotional reliance on a protocol. But HyperLiquid was different for me. Jeff did something that the market desperately needed. He brought the issue of "structural fairness" into the spotlight, initiating a better conversation for the entire industry. He and the HL team deserve to leave their mark on crypto history. I sincerely hope they continue to write.

But if you've followed me long enough, you also know that I'm an idealist, perhaps an idealist to a fault. I can't turn off that part of my brain: the part that sees things as they are and always insists on how they should be.

On October 10, many newcomers saw the reality of the industry. For those who have been around long enough, it was just a reminder: this ecosystem is still fragile, still easily manipulated.

How is it that a centralized exchange could trigger a global settlement cascade, briefly breaking the price of all protocols? This is not a "black swan"; this is a design flaw.

Let's briefly recap the events of that day:

Binance used its own oracle — causing stablecoins to lose their peg. This triggered a relatively small but manageable liquidation chain. The real chaos started with their API going mysteriously offline. Delta-neutral market makers suddenly couldn't hedge on the main OTC. Unable to hedge, they had to pull their liquidity from both CEX and DEX. Liquidity vanished, and prices plummeted instantly.

And the whole industry? A chorus of celebration. "Zero defaults!” “Perfect liquidation execution!”

Great, the protocols didn't die, but the users did.

Protecting protocols is crucial, that's clear. But "protecting the protocol" is not the same as "protecting the traders." If we want broader adoption, higher legitimacy, and for the crypto industry to continue to grow without being strangled by regulation, then we must build genuine consumer protections at a systemic level.

TradFi has circuit breakers, market maker obligations, structural safeguards. What does the crypto industry have? Hope. And a manual that says, "Good luck!”

So why did I leave HyperLiquid? Because I choose to support teams actively addressing these design flaws, not just observing the issues.

I've spoken with Jeff and another member of Core 11. They don't seem to view this as part of the current roadmap. That's their choice, and I respect it.

But it must be said, no one has a perfect solution, no silver bullet. What's important to me is: who is moving toward solutions, not turning a blind eye to problems.

On 10/10, we lost many people. Real lives ended. Real families were torn apart.

The reason was simply... a design flaw that allowed a single entity to control global prices? The crypto industry cannot sweep this under the rug.

Protecting Users Should Not Rely Solely on "Good Luck"

So the question becomes: who is truly building a protection mechanism to avoid the next "Binance-style disaster"?

In Solana, I only found one. Drift's liquidation protection is not magic, nor perfect, but it is real. More importantly, it has proven effective.

It will check: "Has the oracle price deviated more than 50% from the 5-minute TWAP?"

If so, it temporarily halts liquidation. It is this simple logic that has saved many people.

False breakouts are filtered out. The insurance fund catches extreme situations.

It is not a grand philosophical revolution, but it is a crucial step towards rationality.

I am not as clever as Jeff, nor dare I claim to know the best industry-grade solution. But I am a user, and users vote with their funds.

The industry often repeats a phrase: "Protecting the protocol is protecting the traders." But that is not the whole picture. A car is not a complete system without a driver. Both are equally important, forming a marvelous symbiotic relationship.

This article is like a heartbreaking letter to me.

It is not an advertisement for Drift. It is more like a gut-wrenching breakup. Not because love is lost, but because you finally realize that you are heading in different directions.

HL will always be a part of my story. When others ask me where to trade, it will continue to be on my recommended list.

But now, it is time for me to move forward—towards my values, towards my ideals.

And with sincere gratitude, I say to Jeff and the team: "At least we will always have Paris."