An on-chain investigation by cryptocurrency researcher Eye has connected the enigmatic Hyperliquid whale, who manages over 100,000 BTC, to Garrett Jin, the ex-CEO of BitForex, a now-defunct exchange involved in a fraud scandal.
In a Saturday post on X, the investigator pointed out that the whale’s primary wallet, ereignis.eth, was linked to another ENS name, garrettjin.eth, which directly leads to Jin’s verified X (Twitter) account, @GarrettBullish.
“The ENS name ereignis.eth (‘event’ in German) confirms his association with this wallet, identifying him as the entity behind the extensive operations on Hyperliquid/Hyperunit,” Eye stated on X.
The wallet activities also corresponded with Jin’s known business transactions, including transfers to staking contracts and addresses funded by exchanges he had connections with, like Huobi (HTX).
Moreover, the whale’s wallet received and sent funds that traced back to BitForex-related addresses and to Binance deposits used for large trades, such as a $735 million Bitcoin (BTC) short.
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BitForex accused of fraud
Jin was at the helm of BitForex from 2017 to 2020. The exchange faced allegations of inflating trading volumes and was flagged by Japan’s Financial Services Agency for operating without proper registration.
In 2024, BitForex suffered a loss of $57 million from its hot wallets, halted withdrawals, and ultimately closed down after its team was apprehended in China. Hong Kong’s SFC subsequently issued a warning over suspected fraud, with users claiming millions in unrecovered assets.
After BitForex’s downfall, Jin established several ventures, including WaveLabs VC (2020), TanglePay (2021), IotaBee (2022), and GroupFi (2023). Most of these initiatives have since become inactive.
In 2024, he introduced XHash.com, a platform for institutional Ethereum staking, which investigators allege may have been utilized to onboard dubious funds. Following the allegations, Jin reportedly removed XHash from his social media bio, although it remains visible on his Telegram account.
Related: MetaMask, Infinex tap Hyperliquid to challenge CEXs in perps market
Not everyone is convinced
Crypto analyst Quinten François voiced doubt regarding the claims linking the Hyperliquid whale to the former BitForex CEO, suggesting that the evidence might be overly convenient.
“Why would you have an .eth name leading to your X handle in a wallet that directly connects to market manipulation wallets and wallets for other crime?” he wrote on X, adding that such a scenario “sounds way too simple to be true.”
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