TrumpMarkets
|3 min ReadFormer BitForex chief denies insider trading after tariff shock
Jax Morales
Senior Analyst
Published
Jan 16, 2026
Allegations and denial
A massive Bitcoin short landed minutes before U.S. President Donald Trump said he would impose a 100 percent tariff on China. It sparked fresh insider trading questions. On Monday, Oct. 14, Garrett Jin, former CEO of the defunct exchange BitForex, pushed back. He posted on X that he had “no connection with the Trump family,” rejecting claims from the pseudonymous researcher Eye that he controlled the whale wallet. Jin’s post on X
Eye had suggested on Saturday that Jin was a Hyperliquid whale with control over more than 100,000 BTC. Eye’s post on X Jin replied that the wallet belonged to a client. He also criticized former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao for amplifying Eye’s post to more than 10 million followers. Jin’s reply on X CZ’s retweet
The Friday short and tariff backdrop
Whether tied to Jin or not, the wallet opened a 102,000 on Friday. On Sunday, the president posted that people should “don’t worry about China,” softening the tone. This is how macro meets crypto. Thin liquidity. Fast tape. Tremendous impact.
Skepticism and the wider pattern
Not everyone buys the link to Jin. On Saturday, ZachXBT said it was more likely that “a friend of Jin” placed the trades. ZachXBT on X Analyst Quinten Francois also suggested the tie to the former CEO looked “too convenient.” Quinten Francois on X The debate shows how hard attribution is in crypto, even when positions are huge and timing looks incredible.
Insider trading claims are not new to this market. Traders have been accused of using private information around token launches after suspiciously timed buys and sells. In March, an unknown party reportedly made more than 6 million less than a minute after launch. Allegations keep coming. Proof is the hard part.
For now, the Hyperliquid whale story sits in the gray zone. A big short. A tariff shock. A rapid sell-off. Then public denials and public doubt. Everybody knows it. Crypto moves fast. Reputation and receipts matter even more.
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