Wynn expects CZ to win unless Hyperliquid ‘levels up’

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), James Wynn, the popular high-volume trader on the decentralized exchange Hyperliquid, publicly criticized the platform’s referral incentives and warned that its days could be numbered if it fails to evolve.

His comments come amid rising anticipation for a new decentralized exchange (DEX) being developed by Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, one that promises to shield large traders from front-running and liquidation risks.

Wynn wrote in his post that he hasn’t been paid a single cent by Hyperliquid. He stated, “I reached out on two occasions hoping to get some kind of partnership deal for all of the attention I was bringing them, and although they seemed thankful, they don’t offer such deals to anyone.”

Though Wynn acknowledges Hyperliquid’s decentralized nature may explain its lack of traditional sponsorship structures, his frustration was clear.

Despite generating high traffic and trading volume for the platform, Wynn claims to have made only $34,000 through referrals, an amount he describes as “extremely poor” given the scale of his influence.

Wynn also criticized Hyperliquid’s referral program stating that the program sucks. He went on to state that other platforms have far better referral programs

The liquidations that possibly sparked the outburst

Wynn’s comments follow major and publicly chronicled liquidations on the Hyperliquid DEX. In one of the largest capitulations in late May, his massive long position, reportedly worth over $1.1 billion in Bitcoin, was liquidated to the tune of $100 million in full view of the market after Bitcoin fell below $105,000.

The visibility of his open position raised suspicions that he may have been “hunted” by other traders who took advantage of the transparent order book, a controversial feature in decentralized finance.

The incident sparked debate across crypto Twitter, leading to questions about the current DEX designs and how they expose large traders to manipulation.

Wynn’s post seemed to echo the pain of that event and pointed squarely to what he sees as the solution: a new kind of DEX that keeps large trades private.

CZ’s dark pool DEX enters the mix

Wynn’s warning to Hyperliquid comes just as CZ, the founder of Binance, is preparing to launch a new “dark pool” Perpetuals DEX.

According to CZ, this new platform will allow users to deposit assets on-chain but place orders privately, a model designed to prevent front-running, MEV (miner extractable value), and liquidation attacks.

CZ stated in his post on X, “If you are looking to purchase $1 billion worth of tokens, you generally wouldn’t want others to notice your order until it’s completed.”

While details remain scarce, the project is already being touted as a potential game-changer for DeFi.

Wynn expects CZ to win unless Hyperliquid ‘levels up’

In his critique, Wynn clarified that he sees CZ’s entry into the DEX market as a serious threat to current players.

“When CZ launches a dark pool perps DEX, it will put an end to HyperLiquid,” he warned. “CZ has the money, network, and teams to build something like no other. Look at what he’s done with Binance.”

While this may seem like an endorsement of CZ’s new venture, it’s also a call to arms for Hyperliquid, a signal that the platform must improve not only its incentive structure but also its technical architecture if it wants to retain its user base.

Wynn stated, “I hope this encourages HyperLiquid to level up… as they’ll soon be outweighed by better competition.”

For now, Hyperliquid remains the runaway leader in the perpetual DEX market, maintaining an almost upward-only trajectory since it launched. It holds a dominant 62% of the market share, with Aster as the closest competitor with about 27%. Hyperliquid also processed about $2.57B in the last 24 hours, more than double Aster’s $1.12B.