Big Brother Ma Ji gets liquidated again: 25x leveraged ETH long position faces liquidation, with total losses exceeding $25 million

The huge risks of high-leverage trading are once again playing out in the cryptocurrency market. According to data from the market monitoring platform HyperInsight, well-known crypto investor “Brother Maji” Huang Licheng’s 25x leveraged ETH long position was recently completely liquidated, resulting in a loss of up to $1.75 million.

This is not the first time he has been liquidated due to leverage trading in recent months, with cumulative losses possibly exceeding $25 million.

01 Event Recap

The liquidation event involving “Brother Maji” Huang Licheng occurred against the backdrop of the recent sustained market decline. According to BlockBeats Rhythm Finance, as the market continued to fall, his 25x ETH long position was fully liquidated, causing significant account losses.

After the event, Huang Licheng did not choose to exit the market but opened a new long position. Reportedly, he opened another 600 ETH, worth about $1.75 million. This “repeatedly fighting back after defeats” trading style has attracted widespread attention in the crypto community.

Market monitoring data shows that this liquidation caused his account to lose $4.3 million in nearly a month, with total account losses rising to $22.83 million.

02 Repeating History

This is far from the first time “Brother Maji” has faced setbacks in leverage trading. Looking back to the market dynamics of November 2025, he suffered heavy losses due to liquidations of ETH and HYPE double longs.

The situation at that time was equally shocking: his Ethereum position used 25x leverage, while his HYPE position used 10x leverage. The liquidation event caused his account net worth to plummet from $1.9 million to just $149,000 within a week, a decline of 92%.

A 25x leverage means that a mere 4% drop in Ethereum’s price would trigger liquidation, and mainstream cryptocurrencies in the crypto market typically fluctuate 5% intraday. Such high-risk operations can amplify gains in a bull market but are very prone to being swept back and forth in a volatile market.

03 The Cost of High-Risk Leverage

The case of “Brother Maji” once again highlights the destructive nature of high-leverage trading. When investors use 25x leverage, a mere 4% adverse move can wipe out their principal, leaving no room for error.

In the crypto market, daily volatility of 5% is common, and small-cap coins can see intraday swings of 20% or more. Using high leverage in such an environment is like “walking a tightrope without a safety net.”

More notably, “Brother Maji” adopted a “averaging down” strategy when facing losses. When prices fell, he chose to increase his position to lower the average cost. This strategy is extremely dangerous in a high-leverage environment because each additional position increases the overall risk exposure.

04 Market Background and Price Fluctuations

The crypto market has recently shown clear signs of divergence. For example, on January 24, some projects like Kaia (KAIA) surged 33.12% in a single day, while Hyperliquid (HYPE), the token of a mainstream perpetual contract DEX platform, experienced a market correction, with a 4.90% increase.

Ethereum’s price has been volatile recently. On January 14, Ethereum rose 5% to $3,380, breaking through the 2026 high of $3,300 for the first time. This rally triggered a large number of short liquidations in the derivatives market, with over $250 million forced to close out from traders shorting Ethereum.

The intense market volatility adds great uncertainty to high-leverage trading. Bitcoin recently climbed to $97,800 but fell below $89,000 on January 23 due to macro factors. In such a volatile environment, even experienced traders find it difficult to accurately predict short-term trends.

05 How to Avoid Being the Next “Brother Maji”

In the recent “2025 Cryptocurrency Market Review and 2026 Outlook” report released by Gate Research Institute, experts pointed out that Bitcoin’s holding structure is increasingly concentrated among large institutions and professional custodians, which helps improve overall market stability.

For ordinary investors, the case of “Brother Maji” offers valuable lessons. Never use leverage beyond your capacity, never blindly add to positions when facing losses, and never bet all your funds on a single direction.

The crypto market is full of opportunities, but only if you survive long enough to seize them.

According to a podcast, this trader’s approximately $60 million short position was wiped out, with account unrealized gains dropping from $240 million to $40 million. This again confirms that in the unpredictable crypto market, whether long or short, high leverage is a Damocles sword hanging overhead.

Investors should always prioritize risk management, set reasonable leverage according to their risk tolerance, and strictly implement stop-loss strategies. Only in this way can they survive long-term in this market full of opportunities and challenges.