A shadowy cryptocurrency trader who earned millions from derivatives trading this year has been revealed as William Parker, a previously convicted fraudster, according to blockchain investigator ZachXBT.
Parker reportedly netted $6.8 million by taking a long position on BTC shortly before Donald Trump’s announcement about a strategic U.S. crypto reserve over the weekend. He then made another $9 million by shorting BTC as the surge in price quickly reversed.
All his trades employed a risky strategy using 50x leverage, which means the liquidation price is dangerously close to the entry point.
This high-stakes gambling appears to be a hallmark of Parker’s trading approach, as on-chain analysis indicates that his wallet regularly engaged with online crypto casinos such as Roobet, Gamdom, Shuffle, BC Game, and Metawin.
Additionally, the wallet that facilitated these trades was listed as the recipient of drainer fees from a phishing site in January, receiving $17.1K from a customer involved in phishing activities during that month, based on findings from ZachXBT.
The inquiry also explored a Solana wallet that was the first to connect with Parker’s wallet. This SOL wallet made withdrawals from four different casinos following an exploit in a casino game. ZachXBT contacted these casinos and obtained a Telegram account associated with the user.
This Telegram account provided proof that the trader was active on-chain simultaneously with posting in derivative trading groups on the platform.
ZachXBT went further by tracing a payment from the trader to an unidentified individual on the HyperLiquid exchange. This led to the discovery of a phone number linked to a person named William Parker.
Parker was previously convicted and sentenced to 2.5 years in prison in Finland for stealing $1 million from two casinos in 2023. Additionally, he served time in the U.K. in 2010 for various fraud offenses related to hacking and gambling.