Root Causes of the Drawdown

Machi Big Brother (Jeffrey Huang), a prominent Taiwanese-American entrepreneur and NFT collector, saw his Hyperliquid account balance drop to approximately $81,000 (and as low as $15,000 at certain points) following a series of catastrophic liquidations and high-leverage trading losses. Between late 2025 and mid-2026, Machi realized cumulative losses estimated between $74 million and $78 million [Source: https://news.dropstab.com/research/machi-big-brother-one-of-the-most-watched-on-chain-traders].

Root Causes of the Drawdown

The collapse of Machi's account was driven by aggressive margin management and a failure to de-risk during market downturns:

• High-Leverage ETH Longs: Machi maintained massive long positions on Ethereum (ETH) using leverage as high as 25x. As ETH prices declined from 2025 peaks, these positions faced cascading liquidations [Source: https://news.dropstab.com/research/machi-big-brother-one-of-the-most-watched-on-chain-traders].
• Frequent Liquidations: In January 2026 alone, Machi suffered 262 individual liquidations, averaging nearly nine per day, as he attempted to "catch a falling knife" by defending his positions with fresh capital [Source: https://news.dropstab.com/research/machi-big-brother-one-of-the-most-watched-on-chain-traders].
• Altcoin Volatility: A 5x leveraged long position in Plasma (XPL) swung from a $44 million paper profit to an $8.7 million unrealized loss [Source: https://www.binance.com/en/square/post/30442692894265]. He also exited a $25 million position in HYPE at a $4.45 million loss [Source: https://www.binance.com/en/square/post/30442692894265].
• NFT "Fire Sales" for Margin: To maintain his remaining $16 million ETH long position, Machi was forced to liquidate his Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) collection. In June 2026, he sold 34 Bored Apes for approximately 326 ETH (~$514,000), realizing losses of up to 90% on individual assets to provide margin for his Hyperliquid account.

Performance Summary (2025–2026)

Machi's aggressive trading style ultimately served as a significant source of yield for the Hyperliquid Liquidity Provider (HLP) vault, which acts as the counterparty to traders on the platform. While multiple sources confirm substantial fee payments, including one report of a $1.94M payment, the specific claim of $115,000 in funding fees remains unverified.