Notorious Trader Loses $250 Million as Ethereum Plummets

Edgen Crypto

·Feb 01 2026, 18:34

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Key Takeaways

A prominent crypto trader, known for a massive 2025 market short, has sustained a catastrophic $250 million loss following a sharp downturn in Ethereum's price. The event highlights the extreme volatility and high stakes of leveraged crypto trading, reversing the trader's previous celebrated gains.

A popular crypto trader lost $250 million on February 1, 2026, due to leveraged positions.
The loss was triggered by a double-digit percentage decline in the price of Ethereum.
The trader previously gained fame by earning approximately $200 million from a market short in October 2025.

Trader Loses $250 Million After Ethereum Price Collapses

A high-profile crypto trader suffered a $250 million loss on February 1, 2026, after a double-digit percentage decline in Ethereum wiped out their positions. The catastrophic loss highlights the severe risks of high-leverage strategies in the volatile digital asset market. Such a significant and public liquidation could inject fear and uncertainty among market participants, potentially triggering further sell-offs as investors grow wary of contagion risk from the unwinding of large, leveraged bets.

Loss Erases Notorious $200M Gain from 2025

This event marks a dramatic reversal of fortune for the trader, who gained notoriety in October 2025. Back then, they correctly anticipated a market downturn, reportedly making around $200 million by shorting Bitcoin and Ethereum just before a U.S. tariff announcement triggered a $19 billion liquidation cascade. The recent $250 million loss not only erases that famous gain but serves as a stark reminder that strategies relying on predicting sharp market moves can lead to immense losses as quickly as they generate profits.