Crypto Sleuth Claims Mysterious $20M ‘Hyperliquid Whale’ Is Tied To Illicit Activity

Rubmar Garcia

2 months ago

3 mins read

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Crypto detective ZachXBT alleged that the mysterious “Hyperliquid whale” that’s been making headlines across the crypto community is suspected to be a convicted criminal from the UK. The trader has made around $20 million in profit from leveraged trading, raising questions about their identity.

Mysterious Hyperliquid Whale Not A Crypto Insider

On Thursday, ZachXBT shared an investigation revealing the “Hyperliquid Whale” as a British hacker previously charged with multiple crimes. The trader’s identity has been a hot topic among crypto investors over the past few weeks.

According to the X thread, the trader was identified as William Parker, known as Alistair Packover, before he changed his name. Parker was arrested and sentenced in Finland in 2024 for stealing nearly $1 million from two online casinos in 2023.

Since January 2025, the trader has made millions by opening several highly leveraged positions on Hyperliquid and GMX but gained attention this month for two specific trades.

Right before US President Donald Trump’s “Strategic Crypto Reserve” announcement on March 2, the whale opened a large Ethereum (ETH) and Bitcoin (BTC) long position on 50X leverage using address 0xe4d3.

Following this trade, the crypto community speculated that the whale could be an insider, with some users alleging that the trader was linked to the Trump family due to their timing. Meanwhile, others suggested that the mysterious whale was tied to the North Korean hacking group Lazarus.

The trader later opened a BTC short position on 40X leverage using address 0xf3F4, profiting $19 million from the two positions. After the whale closed its short position earlier this week, the crypto sleuth revealed that the trader was allegedly involved in illicit activity.

“It’s funny watching CT speculate on the ‘Hyperliquid whale’ when in reality it’s just a cybercriminal gambling with stolen funds,” he initially responded to the speculation.

Connecting The On-Chain Dots

In the thread, ZachXBT shared four key counterparties of the 0xf3f address, including 0xe4d3, which he had identified. He also noted that the cluster was tied to Roobet, Binance, Gamdom, ChangeNOW, Shuffle, Alphapo, BC Game, and Metawin accounts.

Additionally, the 0xf3f signed a message on-chain with an X account under the username @qwatio, which has seemingly been purchased recently.

After the crypto detective’s initial claims, the X user denied the cybercrime allegations and claimed the $20 million profits from the GMX and HL trades were clean and traceable on the blockchain.

However, the on-chain investigator alleges that “he would have to control the related wallets in this cluster for the $20M number to be accurate.” Notably, an address in the cluster, 0x7ab, was found to have received funds from a phishing scam and an exploited casino game on Solana.

Then, ZachXBT tracked down a recent payment from 0xe4d3 and obtained a UK phone number that seemingly connects the trader and the name William Parker.

I tracked down a recent payment from 0xe4d3 to an unnamed person who confirmed they had been paid by the HL trader. They provided a UK phone number used to communicate with them. Public record reveals the name William Parker is likely tied to this number.

The crypto sleuth concluded that Parker, who was also convicted three times in the early 2010s for crimes related to fraud, hacking, and gambling, has now “gambled 6 figs into $20M using high leverage on-chain” for the past two months, and will likely continue to do so.

crypto, bitcoin, btc, btcusdt — Bitcoin trades at $84,271 in the one-week chart. Source: BTCUSDT on TradingView

Featured Image from Unsplash.com, Chart from TradingView.com

Rubmar Garcia

Rubmar is a writer and translator who has been a crypto enthusiast for the past four years. Her goal as a writer is to create informative, complete, and easily understandable pieces accessible to those entering the crypto space. After learning about cryptocurrencies in 2019, Rubmar became curious about the world of possibilities the industry offered, quickly learning that financial freedom was at the palm of her hand with the developing technology.

From a young age, Rubmar was curious about how languages work, finding special interest in wordplay and the peculiarities of dialects. Her curiosity grew as she became an avid reader in her teenage years. She explored freedom and new words through her favorite books, which shaped her view of the world. Rubmar acquired the necessary skills for in-depth research and analytical thinking at university, where she studied Literature and Linguistics. Her studies have given her a sharp perspective on several topics and allowed her to turn every stone in her investigations.

In 2019, she first dipped her toes in the crypto industry when a friend introduced her to Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, but it wasn’t until 2020 that she started to dive into the depth of the industry. As Rubmar began to understand the mechanics of the crypto sphere, she saw a new world yet to be explored.

At the beginning of her crypto voyage, she discovered a new system that allowed her to have control over her finances. As a young adult of the 21st century, Rubmar has faced the challenges of the traditional banking system and the restrictions of fiat money.

After the failure of her home country’s economy, the limitations of traditional finances became clear. The bureaucratic, outdated structure made her feel hopeless and powerless amid an aggressive and distorted system created by hyperinflation. However, learning about decentralization and self-custody opened a realm of opportunities. Cryptocurrencies allowed her to experience financial control for the first time and expand her financial education.

Moreover, the peculiar nature of the crypto community sparked Rubmar’s curiosity about the other layers of the industry. As a result, she found a particular interest in discovering the diverse perspectives of investors, market watchers, experts, and developers. Her attempts to better understand the crypto space made her realize the strong links of the community with other industries, enriching her perspective of the sector. As someone who spends most of her day online, Rubmar enjoys finding the points where the crypto world meets with her other passions and hobbies –or her favorite memes.

In her free time, she usually finds joy in different art forms. As a child, she enlisted in every extra-curricular activity in her hometown, including music classes, dancing, jewelry making, and the local chorus. Despite her many attempts to learn different instruments, Rubmar only knows how to play the xylophone, which she played for 7 years in her school’s marching band.

She also has a passion for learning new languages and cultures, having set the goal to learn another six languages – currently attempting to learn Italian and Korean. Scrapbooking, paper crafting, and bookbinding are her biggest interests outside of work, constantly taking classes and attending workshops to learn new techniques. The rest of her free time is spent stressing over football matches and transfer market news or feeding cats –hers or stray.

In summary, Rubmar seeks to present entertaining and educational pieces to be enjoyed by everybody, aiming to report on the latest news and offer a unique perspective while adding a meme or a pun whenever possible.

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