A high-stakes crypto gambler was wiped out on HyperLiquid this weekend before immediately diving back into massive leveraged shorts on GMX — a pattern reminiscent of past speculative blow-ups driven by excessive leverage and impulsive trading.

The trader, known for previously sending hundreds of thousands of dollars to on-chain casinos like Stake and Roobet, was liquidated after taking a series of heavily leveraged short positions worth a combined $168 million. The bets targeted bitcoin (BTC$84,716.87), XRP (XRP$1.9485), and zcash (ZEC$608.15), along with smaller positions in ASTER, BNB and RESOLV.

The timing proved disastrous: the trader shorted into the market’s capitulation just hours before Sunday’s rebound, losing $5.5 million in the liquidation event. The setup followed several tokens plunging to multimonth lows and crypto’s fear-and-greed index flashing “extreme fear,” conditions that historically attract aggressive contrarian traders.

Despite the multi-million-dollar wipeout, the gambler showed no sign of stepping back. Minutes after being liquidated, the trader reopened enormous short positions on GMX — this time targeting bitcoin and ether with $115 million in cumulative exposure. Those positions remain active, with unrealized profits hovering around $1.4 million at press time.

The episode draws parallels to the meltdown of pseudonymous trader James Wynn, who lost $100 million earlier this year after repeatedly leveraging into long positions at bitcoin’s local top.

Bitcoin is now trading near $94,100, having already surrendered the bulk of Sunday’s bounce.