From unrealized gains to liquidation in just 48 hours, the story of a whale's $14.3 million PUMP long position suffering heavy losses

On January 15th, PUMP experienced a sharp sell-off, dropping 8.4% to $0.00264 in a short period. More critically, a large-scale liquidation wave followed—on the Hyperliquid platform, the on-chain whale address 0xbaa’s long positions in PUMP were liquidated twice within half an hour, totaling approximately $14.32 million, with the account losing about $470,000. This “from unrealized gains to liquidation” tragedy was reversed in just two days.

Whale Operation Overview: From Opening Longs to Being Liquidated

Starting Point of the Long Position

According to on-chain monitoring data, this whale opened long positions in PUMP and FARTCOIN at 12:11 on January 13th. The operation was highly aggressive: using 10x leverage to long 720 million PUMP at an average entry price of $0.002429, and simultaneously long 4 million FARTCOIN at an average entry price of $0.37166, also with 10x leverage. At the time of opening, the account had an unrealized profit of about $50,000, showing a promising start.

This timing is notable—January 13th was when market maker Wintermute began reducing its PUMP holdings. In other words, this whale added to positions while major players were quietly retreating, planting potential risk factors.

Liquidation Process

Just two days later, on January 15th, the market provided the answer. PUMP dropped 8.4%, a move deadly for 10x leveraged longs. The whale’s PUMP long positions were liquidated twice within half an hour:

• First liquidation: approximately $7 million
• Second liquidation: approximately $7.32 million
• Total liquidation: about $14.32 million
• Account loss: approximately $470,000

Meanwhile, its FARTCOIN long positions were also liquidated for about $11.16 million. After liquidation, the whale’s total holdings shrank from the peak to roughly $5.86 million.

Full Picture of the Liquidation Wave: Collective Long Squeeze

Risk signals behind the data

This liquidation event was not isolated. According to HyperInsight and CoinGlass data, the liquidation characteristics for both tokens over the past hour are highly similar:

What does this imply? Nearly all liquidations involved longs being cleared, with shorts suffering minimal losses. This reflects a severe over-leverage problem among longs—when the market dips slightly, it triggers a chain reaction of liquidations.

Why the whale was liquidated

0xbaa, as the second-largest long holder in PUMP and the largest in FARTCOIN, was directly liquidated because the price fell to the liquidation level. But deeper issues include:

• High leverage (10x) amplifying losses
• Betting on two tokens simultaneously increasing risk concentration
• Entry price at $0.002429, with a liquidation threshold near $0.00218, meaning a mere ~10% drop could trigger liquidation

This setup makes the position extremely sensitive to any negative market movement.

Market Risk Signals: Abnormal Actions by the Project Team

Pump.fun’s “Fund Diversification”

It’s worth noting that on the same day as the liquidation, Pump.fun’s team transferred another 148 million USDC and USDT to Kraken. This has been ongoing since November 15, 2025—over two months, they have moved a total of 753 million stablecoins.

The team claims this is “diversifying funds and reinvesting in business,” but such large and frequent transfers naturally raise concerns about the project’s security. These funds were originally raised during the June 2025 ICO, and now a large portion is moving to exchanges, prompting market speculation.

Market Maker’s Attitude Shift

Last week, Wintermute reduced its PUMP holdings while increasing FARTCOIN positions, indicating that major market makers are adjusting their market exposure. When professional institutions start reducing positions, it often signals a change in their short-term outlook.

Follow-up Focus

Based on current data, several key price levels should be watched:

• Next liquidation price for PUMP is estimated around $0.00218
• Next liquidation price for FARTCOIN is estimated around $0.348
• If prices continue to fall below these levels, a new wave of liquidations could be triggered

Additionally, ongoing monitoring of Pump.fun’s fund movements and market maker position changes is essential.

Summary

This whale liquidation event reveals several real issues: high leverage trading in crypto markets carries risks far greater than imagined—just a 10% price move can wipe out an account; market-wide long congestion leads to chain reactions once triggered; abnormal fund flows by project teams often foreshadow market risks.

For PUMP, the current situation is high-risk—both technical liquidation pressures and fundamental project team risks are present. In the short term, market sentiment stability and the project’s subsequent actions will be key factors in determining the trend. Exercise caution, avoid chasing highs blindly.