- ZkCasino scammer loses $27.1 million in liquidated ETH position.
- Leveraged 20x bet backfires as ETH price drops 17.4% in 24 hours.
- Crypto community sees poetic justice in fraudster’s massive losses.
One of the scammers involved in ZkCasino’s fraud has learned an expensive lesson in market risk after losing $27.1 million in a failed leveraged long Ethereum position. As per Onchain Lens data, the address of the ZkCasino scam saw its 20x leveraged long Ethereum position on Hyperliquid liquidated completely in the wake of Ethereum’s recent price crash.
ETH has plummeted 17.4% in the past 24 hours alone, with declines extending to 18.1% over the past week and 30.9% over the past month. This downward pressure proved to be hectic for the highly leveraged position.
“A scammer gets a dose of karma. The ZkCasino scammer, who scammed $40M+, closed its $ETH (20x) position on Hyperliquid, faced a total loss of $27.1M,” Onchain Lens reported on X. The liquidation represents more than half of the estimated $40 million stolen through the ZkCasino scheme.
ZkCasino scammer’s fate comes amidst ETH’s price drop
The scammer’s ill-fated trading decision appears to have been made shortly before Ethereum’s recent price collapse. Data from blockchain analytics firm Lookonchain shows the activity matched a whale that “deposited 4.52M $USDC into Hyperliquid and went long on $ETH at $1,459 with 20x leverage. The position reached 47,253 $ETH ($69.5M), and the liquidation price is $1,391.7.”
With Ethereum currently trading well below this liquidation threshold, the position was completely wiped out. This gave a form of market justice that many in the cryptocurrency community have found satisfying.
The liquidation comes amid broader bearish market conditions that have seen Ethereum lose over 56.4% of its value over the past year. Other large holders appear to be taking protective measures. Lookonchain also reported that another whale with 220,000 ETH ($340M) on Maker “just repaid 3.52M $DAI and deposited 10,000 $ETH — lowering the liquidation price to $1,119.3.”
Loss of the ZkCasino scammer exposes the perils of high-leverage trading in highly volatile cryptocurrency markets. It can be very destructive in downtrends. While the scammer still holds an estimated $13 million of the money they stole, this heavy loss is a partial vengeance for the victims of the fraud.
