James Wynn: The Crypto Whale And $MOONPIG Story Explained

James Wynn, a pseudonymous trader known as ‘Moonpig’ on the decentralized exchange Hyperliquid, has recently become a focal point in the cryptocurrency community.

His high-stakes trading activities and association with the meme coin $MOONPIG have now sparked widespread attention and debate.

Who is James Wynn?

Wynn became famous because of his audacious trades on Hyperliquid. Notably, he executed a $1.2billion long position on Bitcoin, which he closed with a $17.5m loss. Subsequently, he opened a $1bn short position with 40x leverage, briefly earning $3m before closing the trade.

Despite these losses, Wynn reported a total profit of $25m from his trading activities, having initially started with a wallet of $3–4m.

Not to be confused with the Grange Hill actor, as they bear the same name and are both of British origin, little is still known about the personal life of James Wynn, the crypto trader.

Transitioning from Bitcoin, Wynn shifted focus to meme coins, placing a $1m leveraged long position on Pepe, which quickly yielded a $500,000 profit as the token’s price increased.

His involvement with $MOONPIG, a meme coin launched on the Solana blockchain, has further amplified his influence in the crypto sphere.

$MOONPIG’s 2,000% rally in May

Although Wynn claims to have no association with the project, he endorses it by sharing posts on his X account. MOONPIG was launched on Pump.fun, and the inspiration was clearly Wynn and his infamous trading activities on Hyperliquid.

Since early May, MOONPIG experienced a rapid ascent, achieving a market capitalization exceeding $120m within weeks of its launch. Its appeal was bolstered by humorous branding — a pig in a spacesuit — and a fair launch strategy without presales or team allocations.

The coin’s virality was amplified through social media platforms like TikTok and Twitter, drawing comparisons to other meme coins such as Dogecoin and PEPE. Earlier today, the token was also listed by centralized exchange HTX.

However, on 24 May, MOONPIG’s price experienced a sharp decline of over 30%, dropping from $0.135 to $0.054 by May 26. This downturn raised concerns about a potential ‘pump and dump‘.

Reports suggest that Wynn acquired a significant portion of MOONPIG’s supply, subsequently selling it for substantial profits, which may have contributed to the price collapse. Despite the criticism, the wider meme coin community continues to support MOONPIG.

Wynn’s response and ongoing debates

In response to the allegations, Wynn denied being the developer or orchestrator behind MOONPIG, stating that he has not sold any of his holdings and has even contributed to buybacks and liquidity pool burns to support the project.

Despite his assertions, skepticism persists within the community, with some questioning the transparency and sustainability of such meme coin ventures.