## Synthetix Trading Competition: When Even "Top Traders" Can't Escape Liquidation

Synthetix just concluded a contract trading competition on Ethereum Mainnet, and the results are prompting reflection within the crypto community. Among 98 participants—including well-known figures like Feng Wuxiang, James Wynn, and the CEO of Wintermute—only 12 did not incur losses, 68 lost over 90% of their accounts, and 27 accounts were completely wiped out.

### The Unavoidable Truth: Top Traders Are Also Victims

One notable point: two of the 12 non-loss-making traders didn't even execute any trades. This paints a rare picture in the trading world—the difference between a dormant "bot" and an active "top" trader.

The competition ran from October 20 to November 20, aiming to promote Synthetix's new perp DEX platform after returning to Ethereum Mainnet. However, instead of telling a success story, it became a vivid warning about the nature of high leverage trading.

### Competition Mechanics: The "Blood Battle" Design

The organizers invited 50 famous trading bloggers and 50 users who deposited stablecoins or held Kwenta points. Each was allocated a 50,000 USDT margin at the start, with an additional 50,000 USDT added on November 5.

The prize structure was highly skewed: first place received 1 million USD, but positions from 2nd to 10th only earned about 15,000 USD each. This created a winner-takes-all race, where every participant—whether top or bot—had to risk everything for a shot at big wins.

There was no leverage limit. Trading markets included BTC, ETH, XRP, BNB, SOL, DOGE, SUI, and ENA.

### What Happened to the Top Traders

Feng Wuxiang, one of the most famous trading bloggers, started very well. He executed 132 trades with a total value exceeding 70 million USD, using high leverage to lead the pack. But when Bitcoin dropped below 90,000 USD—an unexpected level—Feng's account was fully liquidated.

James Wynn, who once made 100 million USD in 70 days, also nearly faced account liquidation and only stayed in the top 10 thanks to luck.

The winner of the competition, Gmoney, employed an opposite strategy: he bought long while other "top" traders shorted. When the market declined just in time, Gmoney—who wasn't the most famous—secured victory with approximately 1.117 million USD in profit.

### The Numbers Say It All

- Total funds allocated: 10 million USDT
- Total losses: nearly 6 million USD
- Remaining funds: 4.02 million USD

The top 10 participants turned 1 million USD into 2.184 million USD. But behind these achievements, 88 others saw their accounts wiped out.

### Why Did the "Top" Fail?

Feng Wuxiang later shared that, during the competition, everyone aimed for the king—so high leverage became necessary to achieve large ROI. But he also warned: in real trading, lower leverage should be preferred.

The competition coincided with a continuous market decline. Bitcoin fell 30% from peak to trough—an move powerful enough to wipe out any high-leverage position. The "top" traders bet on an upward trend, but the market had other plans.

### Lesson: Greed Doesn't Discriminate

The conclusion from this competition aligns with one of the oldest sayings in trading: "You can beat the market 100 times, but the market only needs to beat you once."

Greed has no exceptions—whether you're a blogger with tens of thousands of followers or a silent "bot" that never trades. Both face the same force: probability.

Perhaps this is the true educational value of this event. Instead of promoting platform success, it offers a classic lesson: those who operate (top) can lose to those who never trade (bot). As for us? We are not among them—we are just observers who see this and decide to join a similar game.

### Season Two: Will New Rules Change Anything?

Synthetix will start the second round from December 1, with 1,000 participants—(200 top traders and 800 community members). This time, the prize distribution is more balanced.

The big question remains: will rule changes reduce greed, or will human nature—whether top or bot—still push everyone toward similar decisions?